Seven Nights of Melancholy
by Escalon
Summary: [Tsukihime crossover]In his life, Tohno Shiki was given a choice between the Near or Far Sides of the Moon. But now all the factors have been replaced. A chance relocation has brought him into an encounter with an entirely different princess.
1. First Blood

Disclaimer: I own neither Tsukihime or Suzumiya Haruhi

A grassy plane. The midnight sky, the moon high up in the air.

Red. Blood red. A crimson...vermilion. I laughed softly to myself, mocking my redundancy.

Scattered all over were the bodies of people that I knew. Aunts. Uncles. Friends, cousins. Some part of me was horrified of the carnage that lay so blatantly at my feet. But another, stronger part thirsted for more.

At the end of the field was a man. He was tall, as befitted someone of his age. His posture displayed a measure of arrogance; his face was stone cold. His hands were bright red. Suddenly, he turned to face me. His eyes had a madness laying deep within them, and it took all of my strength not to turn away. Slowly, a grin crept unto his face. He approached me, and I dared not move for fear of this nonhuman. He looked down upon me, and took my hand. I shuddered from the contact with the blood, but whether it was from fear or pleasure I do not know.

He said words. Words that could have been comforting had they come from another mouth. He finished, and he led me away from the site. I let myself be dragged along. There was nothing left for me there.

* * *

The years after that are hazy and unremarkable. The man's name was Tohno Makihisa. He took me into his home, though his motives were unknown to me. I made friends. My first friend was a beautiful girl, with the kindest smile I had ever seen. She got me comfortable in a home led by a mass murderer. 

I was adopted. I didn't really care, at that point. I attained a sister, Akiha. She was a meek soul, and with her and my new friend we wasted the summer days away playing in the grass.

Until that day. A stabbing pain, unlike that which I had ever known before. My chest was on fire. My nerves were working double time; my head threatened to explode from the pressure. Blood spurted forth from my heart, tainting the green of the meadow a blood red. My sister- she was holding me. Crying over me.

Someone- Tohno Makihisa- appeared in the corner of my eye. I heard a scream. An inhuman sound. I was slipping from life, but it did not fail to fill me with rage.

Then, it was over. I was dead.

* * *

I awoke in a hospital, a bespectacled man looming over my bedside. He asked me all the preliminary questions, and I gave an answer in turn. 

I do not know what happened. I felt as if I no longer belonged. As if my presence on this earth was a mockery upon the gods themselves. As if in response to my doubt, my eyes throbbed painfully. Then.

I could see them.

Lines, everywhere. Scribbles, to be more precise. They littered every corner of the room. I looked down upon body. Sure enough, the scribbles were a stark black against my pale skin. I took a hand and had to stifle a gasp as my finger plunged into a line on my wrist. I could not feel it, but there it was. I picked up a fruit knife from the stand beside my bed and rose onto shaky legs. I sunk it into the bed, and traced the longest line on it.

There was a crash as the bed split evenly in two. Doctors and assistants burst into the room, pausing briefly upon seeing the two halves of a bed.

I tried to explain it to them. They would not believe me. It's funny, really. I almost didn't believe myself either. But that bed was all the evidence I needed. It was there. I cut it, with that fruit knife.

No.

I killed it.

Pushing that thought aside, I made my way onto the hospital's lawn after the doctors took away my knife and saw fit to let me savor the sunlight. It was a surprisingly beautiful place. Nice and scenic. But before I could further appreciate that beauty, I noticed something.

Lines.

Everywhere. They crept along the landscape, like a cancer worming its way through the very foundation of the world. I had to stifle a scream. The idea- the idea of being able to rend the earth asunder was too much for me to bear. My head pounded at the implications. I did not want to think about it. But, there it was. Every time I opened my eyes, there was undeniable proof that the world was nothing more than fragile china waiting for a clumsy fool like me to slip and break it.

Then, I met her.

A foreign woman. Flowing red hair. Blue eyes. She called herself Miss Blue.

I called her Sensei.

We talked many times. About nothing. About everything. She was a masterful conversationalist, and I felt myself entranced every time she opened her mouth to speak.

One day, I brought along a fruit knife I had sneaked from another room. Excitedly, I motioned for Sensei to watch me do something incredible. She quirked an eyebrow, obviously curious. It made my heart warm. With a single stroke, I cut a line along a tree. The tree fell. It died. I turned to beam at her. Surely, this was something unique. Something that I and I alone could do.

But then.

She slapped me. Slapped me, and told me what a horrible thing I had done. I could not comprehend it. I broke down, and began to cry. Thorugh the veil of my tears, the lines became less apparent. I looked up to her face, which displayed equal parts pity and anger.

Sensei embraced me. She told me that what I did was terrible. Wrong. That the tree was a living thing, and I had killed it. This philosophy rooted its way into my mind, and began to sprout. The thought of killing something disgusted me. I promised her, then. That I would not use my power ever again. She laughed, and said that my power was mine to do with as I pleased. She said that no one was perfect. That she only wanted me to grow up a good man. Mentally, I made a promise to become that too.

Then, she departed. But she left me something important. A tool, that I could use to shield my mind from the truth. A pair of glasses, that hid the lines that signified death from my eyes.

But they were always there. I could always see them, haunting the edges of my vision.

Still, I am eternally grateful to Sensei.

Because from then on, I could manage.

* * *

After the incident, Tohno Makihisa disowned me. It was a pity, really. The old man was cruel when in a foul temper, but otherwise he was a fine father. He sent me to live with the Arimas, distant relatives of mine who had recently moved far away from the Tohno Mansion. They too had a daughter. She was much more enthusiastic than Akiha, though I was wary to get close to her. 

Do I really love the Arimas? I like to think that I do. But in the end, they aren't really my family.

An image of Akiha shot through my mind's eye.

I decided not to think about it. Chuckling to myself, I dressed into my uniform and grabbed my bag. It was my first day of high school, and I did not want to be late.

I went downstairs and cheerfully accepted breakfast from the woman that has, for all intents and purposes, been my mother for the past 5 years. Her eyes were kind. Her smile radiant.

Why could I not accept her?

My sister bounded down the steps and crashed into me. With surprising strength, she embraced me. Miyako always was terribly affectionate. A pang of guilt went through me when I realized I could never feel the same love towards her. Patting her on the head, I forced myself to smile. She deserved better than a brother who couldn't love her back.

* * *

The trip to school was extenuating. The hill that one had to traverse to reach the campus was ridiculously steep. My anemia certainly wasn't helping matters. 

I made it to school with some time to spare, and gladly fell into my seat. I looked around. There were a few familiar faces. Most of them, though, were entirely new. A twisted smile made its way upon my face as I reflected upon the popularity that I had unwittingly gained at my middle school. I wasn't particularly extraordinary or good looking, but it seems that plenty of females were attracted to me. At first, it was entirely welcome attention.

Then, one of them took of my glasses when they tried to kiss me.

Suffice to say that girl would probably never get my screams out of her head.

The bell rang, and more students filed in. Among them was an extremely attractive girl with a yellow ribbon in her hair. Her face was scrunched up into a look of discontent. Disdain, even. As she passed by me to sit in the seat behind mine, I felt strangely uncomfortable.

My turn came for introductions, and I answered as honestly as I possibly could. Unfortunately, as I made to say my name an acquaintance of mine from middle school yelled out 'Kyon!'

I will have to get Miyako back for that some day. At this rate, it appears that the dreaded nickname will follow me well into college. What is wrong with Tohno Shiki? I think it is a perfectly viable name.

Then, the beauty behind me stood up. I payed her no heed.

"My name is Suzumiya Haruhi. I graduated from East Junior High. Normal humans don't interest me. If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, or an esper, then come find me! That is all."

I barked out a short laugh before I could stop myself. Others laughed too, but I happened to be closest. Her expression a caricature of fury, she reached out an arm and pulled me up from my seat. It was inhumanly fast.

No. Wait. It was really really fast.

"Do you have some sort of problem with me?!" Suzumiya barked this out like what I had done was the most offensive thing in the world.

I wracked my brain for an acceptable counter. "Not really. It's just that what you said was rather outlandish. I couldn't help but laugh a little at it, if you'll pardon me."

The look on her face intensified. It appears that my explanation had only served to further incite her. I briefly wondered why the teacher wasn't doing anything to stop this spectacle.

I decided then to try my luck a second time. "Aliens, time travelers, espers. Those things are all good and fine to believe in."

Her face softened a little. I had better not screw this up.

"But if you go looking for it, some day something big will happen to you. And then, what? You're stuck in a strange situation. You won't know how to deal with it. In the end, it'll be a bigger disappointment than if you had just left well enough alone."

The anger was back. With a huff, she dropped me back in my seat. Suzumiya crossed her arms, and sunk back into her desk. The rage was practically palpable.

I briefly considered taking off my glasses to see if I could kill something as abstract as anger. Then, I shook my head. What a way to start the year.

* * *

It was a downward spiral from there, I think. It seemed that Suzumiya refused to leave well enough alone, choosing instead to pester me endlessly. 

I felt the sensation of a mechanical pencil being pushed into my shoulder blade for about the third time that day. The familiar sound of that hated name, 'Kyon.'

"What is it?" I said this with an embarrasing tone of resignation in my voice.

"Have you ever met any aliens?"

I quirked an eyebrow. The action threatened to displace my glasses, and I readjusted them before responding. "No."

"Time travelers?" She had a grin on her face. Like that character from that American animation, the Cheshire Cat.

I shook my head. "No."

"Espers?" Again with the grin.

"No."

The thought passed through my head that I should respond positively to the question. My eyes were certainly something magical. Since the power to see death was a direct result of my brain somehow warping my eyes, it was definitely psychic in nature.

She must have sensed the hesitation that I had put into my voice, for her face wore a disbelieving look. I shrugged my shoulders and turned back to face the board. It was only a while until lunch. That thought would carry me soundly though the period.

* * *

I sat down to eat my lunch peacefully in the cafeteria. A simple meal of curry bread and milk. Something in the back of my mind called out to me in opposition to the meal. I payed it no head. 

Unexpectedly, I felt a presence in front of me. I looked up from my meal to find the class representative gazing at me with a heart-winning smile. I resisted the blush I could feel creeping up my neck.

"Class rep?" I asked this tentatively. I was sure that I did not even know her name.

As if sensing my inability to recall her name, she responded. "I'm Asakura Ryouko, Kyon. It's nice to meet you."

I gazed at her warily. Something was off about her. Within me, I could feel the stirrings of an unfamiliar, though rather welcome, feeling. "It's nice to meet you too."

Her smile widened. "You're friends with Suzumiya Haruhi, are you not?"

Something was...wrong with this situation. My hand beneath the table was twitching manically. I willed myself to calm down and respond normally to the nice girl. I could feel the blood pounding in the back of my head.

This girl. I felt myself going off on a tangent, and stifled the thought. "Not really. I just happen to sit in front of her."

"You're the only one she talks to, you know. I think you're the only person in this school she considers a friend. I've tried to talk to her many times, but..." Asakura's sentence trailed off there. A part of me was sickeningly pleased of these revelations, though I tried my best not to let it show.

"Really, now?" I said this with the intent of sounding casual.

"Yes. You're her tether to the rest of us. Please help Suzumiya to open up to the class!" She giggled and left the table, her meal finished while I was unaware. I turned to look in her direction. She caught my eye once more and waved before leaving the cafeteria entirely.

What exactly happened, there?

* * *

I made my way home oddly tired that day. After finishing my schoolwork, I lazed around in my room, thinking of the events that had transpired. Something about both Asakura Ryouko and Suzumiya Haruhi was off. There was something distinctly... 

Inhuman.

...about them. My train of thought was derailed as I heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. Stumbling my way down the stairs, I was greeted with the sight of Miyako conversing with a delivery man. It appeared that she was trying to unsuccessfully sign off for the item the man brought.

"Yo." I approached the pair, my little sister pouting at the sight of me. The delivery man smiled and turned to face me. He handed me a board, which surprisingly enough requested my signature for delivery. Scribbling out 'Tohno Shiki' (though my sister was insistent on 'Kyon'), I took the package from him. I tossed him a tip, which he caught with a deft flourish.

The package was small, addressed to Tohno Shiki from Tohno Makihisa. The shock of receiving anything after so many years nearly caused me to drop it, but I retained my composure and started for the stairs. Miyako looked up at me with expectant eyes. Smiling for her sake, I opened the plain brown package.

An iron bar. Miyako seemed to be disappointed with the contents, and I shooed her off to bed. For my father to send me an iron bar had to be some sort of insult. I resisted the urge to throw it at the wall, and instead sliced the air with it in anger.

Click.

The sound drew my attention quickly. I looked at object in my hands, no longer an iron bar but a gravity knife with an engraving. It was small, to be sure. Hardly more lethal than a fruit knife. But lethal, nonetheless.

Nanatsu-yoru. Seven nights.

I smiled, a little. I felt as if my father was playing some sort of practical joke, giving one such as me something like this. Shaking my head, I pocketed it.

Common sense told me that I would never need something like this outside of the home. That Tohno Shiki should not be allowed to have such a thing.

Yet...

* * *

The next day, Suzumiya peppered me with the usual questions. I deflected them almost instinctively now, no longer caring much if she suspected me of being supernatural. Rumors were beginning to spread about me and her. It was getting rather annoying. 

"If you're so interested in this sort of thing, why not join a club?" I said this on a whim. God I wish I hadn't. "There's that Supernatural Study Group, isn't there? They seem interesting."

The look on her face would have made small children cry. "Them? They're a bunch of freaks who want to summon the devil!"

"Have I succeeded where they have failed?"

"What was that?!"

"Nothing. Listen, then why don't you start your own club if you hate all the other ones so much?"

With that sentence, I set in motion something that I wouldn't understand even after years of contemplation. It's funny, how a simple gesture or noncommittal sentence can have an effect on one's future.

A few minutes later, the two of us were standing outside of the Literary Club clubroom. Never mind the fact that the Literary Club still had a member- Miss Suzumiya was on a mission. She strolled into the room, spouting off various ideas and plans. It appears that the Literary Club member, Nagato Yuki, did not mind. It seems Suzumiya had claimed her, too.

Nagato Yuki. Around her, I felt the same way I did around Asakura Ryouko. It didn't make any sense to me. They were two entirely different people. Yet, the discomfort that arose within me around the class representative was also present when I was in close proximity to Nagato.

I was scared, actually. I had no idea what the feeling meant. But whenever I looked at Nagato, I felt...uneasy. As if something was wrong. Once, I met her gaze. And in that moment my hand clenched painfully around the knife in my pocket. I wanted to do something.

I just didn't know what.

* * *

Asahina Mikuru. What a poor girl. If I felt disease around Nagato, then Asahina was practically a beacon that attracted my pity. 

She was extremely attractive and kind. The kind of person I would date in a heartbeat. Yet, Suzumiya subjected her to both sexual and verbal harassment. Several times I tried to voice my opinion, but always barged into the room while she was dressing. Suffice to say that I ran right out.

Suzumiya was a terribly strong woman. As such, I could not actively stop the abuse without resorting to taking off my glasses, and that was a little too drastic for such an occasion. As such, I never took them off in her presence.

I sat in the clubroom one day, after we had gained a new member. One Koizumi Itsuki.

Even with my glasses concealing the truth from me, I could tell he was disgustingly fake. His smile was plastic, though the others seemed to not realize it.

Then, he invited me for some coffee. Seeing no polite way to refuse, I took him up on the offer. I ordered a simple roast, and we sat down to partake in the drinks.

"Do you believe in magic, Kyon?" He asked this to me with that sickening smile of his plastered on his face. I briefly wondered if I could kill it.

The thought made my head pound.

"Not really." I said this ironically. My eyes were probably glowing or something in response.

I glanced at a nearby window. Nope. Still gray.

"Then, you would not believe me if I said I was an esper?" His eyes danced merrily. My hand twitched. "A magician of sorts?"

I laughed. "Why not? We meet all sorts. It might not be a stretch to think that espers and magic are real." Still not glowing.

He took a long sip of his coffee. Judging from the color, it was startling sweet. "I love your attitude. Yes, I am an esper. We're an organization, really. An Agency dedicated to observing Suzumiya Haruhi."

I couldn't hide the shock on my face. So, now Suzumiya is special? The irony in all her statements became increasingly apparent by the minute. If nothing else, Koizumi was good for a laugh.

I think that Koizumi could make a good philosophy professor. He was extremely long-winded with a penchant for turning his lectures towards the absurd.

"Humans have called those who can create and destroy the world at will as God."

My eyes shot up from their gaze at my empty coffee cup. What of those who can merely destroy the world at will, then?

What are they?

"For some reason, you've been chosen by Miss Suzumiya. You are her closest friend. For the sake of the universe, it is imperative that you do not allow her to grow weary of this world. Existence as we know it is entirely dependent on it.

"You've awoken a vengeful god. Now, can you keep it amused?"

The way he phrased his question made the atmosphere extremely awkward. "That's the thing though. I don't want in her club. I'm quitting tomorrow, actually."

I might have imagined it, but Koizumi's eyes appeared to narrow. "Really, now? That is not a wise course of action, Kyon."

"What isn't a wise course of action is getting caught up with aliens, time travelers, and espers." I said this rather calmly looking back at it. "What of Nagato and Asahina? Are they like you?"

He seemed to light up again. A dim, artificial light. "They also have special powers, if that is what you mean." A smirk briefly made itself known before retreating back into a smile. "They are not espers, otherwise."

I felt my entire body grow taut with nervous energy. "And me?"

Surely they knew everything. Everything about the eyes which came so close to ruining my life those five years ago. I realized, then, the reason I had been summoned to Suzumiya's club. If her power was real, then my eyes were definitely something on par with magic powers, time travel, or aliens. This meant that there was an entire slew of people out there who knew of me. Sensei's teachings fluttered through my mind and I--

"Nope. I can guarantee that you are a completely normal human being." He flashed a slightly arrogant smile. "No offense."

"What?"

"I know you're disappointed, but so are we. It is quite the anomaly that Suzumiya would grow close to one such as you."

He stood up to move away.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you at the club room tomorrow won't I? Until then, Kyon?"

As he moved away, I lowered my glasses to gaze at his back. There, in the direct center of his body, was a collection of lines surrounding a a strangely colored dot. My breathing became shallow, and I quickly slid my glasses back up.

They didn't know what I was capable of. The reassurance allowed me to release a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

* * *

"Look, you ordered me up to your apartment in the most roundabout way possible then you sit here and quote a passage out of _Dune_ or something at me." I quickly grew tired of Nagato Yuki's spiel. I could feel the sheer anger bubbling from my closeness to her. "Shut- shut the hell up and get to the point!" 

My breathing was heavy and shallow. The occasional bead of sweat would form on my brow and slide down my face. My glasses were slowly becoming foggy. Was this all because I had been talking with Nagato for just fifteen minutes?

I resisted the urge to slip my hand around my knife for reassurance.

_Kill._

I shouted and flew back towards the wall of Nagato's apartment. That- that bitch. I'll-

"Is something troubling you?" Her voice made me want to cut her throat and keep her from talking ever again. Her eyes, gazing at me with that expressionless stare made me want to carve them out and eat them. I tore my glasses from my face and stared at her unabashedly.

Good. Lines criss-crossed her body, as it should be.

"N-no. Continue. It's just, I've never been in a girl's house with her alone before." I managed to gasp that out in an attempt to play off my actions. No. I can't kill this girl. Not now. I wiped the sweat from my brow with a sleeve.

"Very well." She seemed to go along with it, though I honestly couldn't tell. "I am a Humanoid Interface sent by the Data Integration Thought Entity. My mission is to observe all data fluctuations that occur as a result of Suzumiya Haruhi."

Uppity little _bitch. _I could tear her into seventeen pieces in an INSTANT if I wanted to.

"You are the human that Suzumiya Haruhi has chosen to be her support. As such, it is important that you are aware of the circumstances surrounding her in order to better perform your task." She said this all with a straight face.

"I'm quitting the club." I managed to spit that out as normally as I could with my heart beating a mile per minute. "You- you can't keep me there. Nobody can."

"Seeing as you are a normal human with little to no influence over the flow of data governing this universe, it would be a simple task for an aspect of the Data Integration Thought Entity to coerce you into doing its bidding." SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.

"How dare you!" I screamed that with as much force as I could. I rose to my feet and stumbled my way towards the door. "You- I'm not going to stay. If you and the Data Integration Whatever know what's good for you, you'll STAY OUT OF MY WAY." I hobbled out towards the elevator.

I slid down the wall of the elevator and dropped bonelessly. I hurriedly replaced my glasses, the constant sight of the lines beginning to overwhelm my senses. Blood rushed through my head at an amazing rate. I felt light headed. My anemia kicked in, and everything faded to white.

* * *

I awoke gazing up at an unfamiliar room. Seeing the lines of death snaking all over the ceiling, I quickly identified my glasses and put them on. I turned my head, and came face to face with Nagato Yuki. 

"My anemia..." I managed to say that, if rather weakly. Nagato simply nodded and strode out of the room with an inhuman grace. It only made me angrier. I shakily rose to my feet and made for home.

Why was all of this happening to me?

* * *

"Classified information." 

I couldn't help but smile at that. She was so cute. And time traveler or not, I felt no disease around her. Therefore, she was completely human.

Utterly fine to talk to.

"So, no special powers at all? Are you sure I can't fly or something?" I said that with a teasing tone in my voice. Looking back, it wasn't a very flirtatious comment.

She shook her head sadly. "Nope. All my superiors affirm that in all the timelines you never showed any sign of supernatural powers."

"And the rest is?..."

"Classified information."

I couldn't help but blush a little talking to that vision of beauty. "Well, I'm sorry but I'm still quitting Suzumiya's club. I don't want to get dragged into something like this."

She pouted. "But Kyon. The world depends on you keeping Haruhi stable!"

I barked out a sarcastic laugh. "Keep her stable? She wasn't stable to begin with!"

"But that's the point. You need to be there with her in order to stabilize her! Otherwise, she'll never be content." Again, I was nearly swayed by her sweet tone.

I patted her on the shoulder. "Sorry, sempai. But it's in my best interests to keep out of the so-called SOS Brigade."

"But you practically formed the club! You were the one who gave her the idea to make it. She won't be happy if her other founding member isn't there. You're one of the two pillars that supports the SOS Brigade!"

"Sorry, but no." Then, I walked away, not sparing the poor girl a second glance. It was cold of me, I know. But I didn't want to prolong this any more. I wondered then, what my life would be like if I returned to the Tohno Mansion. If not aliens, time travelers, and espers, I'd probably be mingling with the likes of vampires or something there.

* * *

Though, that situation seemed rather tame when compared to a teenage girl with absolute power. 

"You- you can't QUIT!" Suzumiya screamed this in my ear, causing me to wince somewhat.

"I'm sorry. But there are other things that I need to do and I can't spend all my time playing around here." I said this apologetically. I felt a little bad, actually. I was leaving her to a disaster that I had basically designed. But it isn't like she could do anything to stop me.

I saw something from out of the corner of my eyes. I slipped off my glasses and put them in my pocket, to the confusion of the club members staring anxiously at me. I looked at Suzumiya and gasped.

"Well? What the hell is it?!"

She was flawless. Not a single line marred her body. Not a point blemished her skin. For the first time in my life I felt utterly powerless.

Around her, though, were a number of lines connected to nothing radiating from her like spokes. Suddenly, several of the lines sped towards me. With a speed I wasn't aware I possessed, I traced along the lines with a fingernail before they even came close to me.

"Uh, sorry. It was a fly." But they didn't even pay attention to me. Instead, all eyes were on Suzumiya, who looked as if she'd be hit by a car. She was clutching at her chest, her breathing shallow. She sank to her knees, weak and winded. I glanced at the others.

Nagato. Her eyes were widened in an expression of blatant surprise. Koizumi, a look of genuine worry plastered upon his face. Sempai, who had charged towards the fallen girl and cradled her in her arms.

I glanced once more upon Suzumiya and saw faint lines begin to appear on her body. Yes. They were pale. But they were there.

She was no God. It was a terrible thought, but I couldn't help but feel satisfaction at it. However, my mind turned to darker things. What were those lines? What part of her did I just kill?

The lines on her body grew darker every moment. Dots began to appear sporadically around her figure. Nagato had joined Sempai on the floor in taking care of Suzumiya. The two picked her up and made for the nurse wordlessly. I turned back to Koizumi. He seemed shocked. Genuinely confused.

"Does God ever get sick?" I asked him this with a regretful tone in my voice.

He stammered for a moment. "I'll have to contact my superiors about this. This is an unexpected development. Miss Suzumiya has never been ill in her life."

A familiar head poked its way into the room. "Kyon? Could I speak with you for a minute?"

"Sure, Asakura." I followed her out of the room, a distraught Koizumi in my wake.

* * *

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I said that warily. Whatever made Asakura seem off to me appeared to be amplified a dozen times on that day. Merely seeing her had made me begin to sweat. 

"I only wish to know what you did to Suzumiya Haruhi." Her smile did not leave her face.

"W-what I did? I didn't do anything to her." My tone did not even convince me. It only served to make Asakura smile wider. She stepped closer to me, and I stood my ground out of a mixture of fear and some other, more foreign emotion.

"Kyon, you made a brief swatting motion with your hand." The way she said it made it sound like such a trivial action was of the utmost importance. I nearly rolled my eyes. "In that moment, all data production by Suzumiya Haruhi came to a halt."

Data?

"The data fluctuation and the movement of your hand were entirely synchronized. There is no way that such an occurrence is a coincidence. During those moments, you severed part of the data flow from Suzumiya Haruhi to the world." She giggled. It was extremely unsettling. "Therefore, I need to know how you did such a thing in order to rationalize the situation."

Shut up. I wish she'd...shut up. She's such a nice girl. Then I wouldn't need to...

Wouldn't need to...?

"I didn't do anything, Asakura. I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to say this with a straight face, but the effect she had on me made it all I could do to keep from screaming at her.

"Interface Nagato Yuki has already told me that you have been informed of the current situation. There is no need to lie. I present no threat." She stepped even closer, and I could feel the heat rising from my body. "Unless you refuse to tell me. There are effective ways to make human beings talk. Do you intend to say nothing about your actions?"

I didn't hesitate at all. "Yes."

"Then I have no choice."

She charged at me with a solid black combat knife. My body instinctively reacted and I jumped away from what would have otherwise been a very painful wound. The entire edge was serrated. It was as much a tool of torture as murder.

I pulled my knife from my pocket and flicked it open with a satisfying click. Compared to her knife, it might as well be a stick. Asakura took one look at it and cracked up laughing.

"Hahahaha, you- you mean to combat me with a weapon such as that?" Tears streamed down her face as she doubled over in laughter. "Kyon, it's useless. Just tell me what I want to know."

I reached up and pulled my glasses from my face, carelessly throwing them to the side of the classroom. I knew they couldn't break anyway. I gazed up at her, and she met my eyes.

At the sight of my eyes, there was none of the usual fear I saw. Instead, there was only mirth. As if she did not believe me a threat.

As if this pathetic EXISTENCE did not think I could kill her.

With a smile, she swung her hand at me, letting loose a torrent of spears that seemed to be made of light. It didn't matter if it was alive or not.

I could kill it.

The light spears fell apart as I hacked my way through the barrage into Asakura's personal space. She raised her knife to defend, but I sliced through the blade so cleanly it might as well have not existed at all.

I looked up at her. Her face betrayed layers of disbelief.

I smiled.

"You're not human, are you?"

"N-no."

"Then die."

I made for one of the many points dotting her body, but Asakura was much faster than any of my usual foes. She managed to dodge, and tried to counterattack.

A futile effort, when my eyes can see all.

I bent over backwards, using my finger to trace a line underneath her arm. Her arm fell apart into two pieces, making a distinctive 'squelch' noise as it hit the floor. I could see the hysteria in her eyes now. I could see the fear.

Her mouth opened, and she said something indistinct rapidly. Then, lines shot up out of her much like they did from Suzumiya. They were not aimed at me, but rather my surroundings. I jumped up, and traced them with my knife in an instant.

I turned to face Asakura. She was grinning, as if she expected me to fall dead any moment. Then, the look of expectation turned to one of confusion. Why wasn't anything happening, she was thinking.

Because I killed it. I killed all of it.

I picked up her armless body with a single arm, my other hand softly stroking her supple skin.

I caressed her legs. They fell apart in a wave of blood.

I touched her other arm. It exploded.

I tickled her stomach. Her torso fell apart, piece by piece.

All that was left of her then was her head. Disturbingly, it remained animated. Self aware. As if the rest of its body did not matter at all. She spoke, even.

"I could never have foreseen this. For a human being to best the Data Integration Thought Entity is unheard of. It was supposed to be impossible.

"But you- what are you? You do not create data. Nor do you overwrite it. Data that you touch simply ceases to exist. I don't understand.

"Something like you could destroy existence itself. Everything could cease to be. You are a greater threat than Suzumiya Haruhi will ever be.

"Please, for the good of continued existence, kill yourself."

Anger surged through me and I plunged my knife into the dot on her forehead. She screamed, and then was gone. "Shut the hell up."

It was a fact of life. I refused to die. Killing others so that I may live was perfectly natural.

Wasn't it?

The heat left my body. I found my glasses and put them on. I could see clearly now. The mutilated remains of Asakura Ryouko. I had cut her into seventeen pieces of meat. I had done this. I, Tohno Shiki, had killed this girl in cold blood.

I threw up right there. No. This wasn't happening.

I-I'm not a killer! I'm not!

The pieces of Asakura faded away, as did the carnage wreaked upon the classroom. The blood on my uniform disappeared too, and for a second I fancied that it was only a dream.

Bile rose up in my throat. This was...wrong, wasn't it? I had not known Asakura for much longer than a week. One week, and suddenly I felt as if I had the right to kill her.

But then, did she also not wish to kill me? There's nothing wrong with killing, as long as it ensures your survival, right?

Part of me was glad that there was no evidence. Another part of me was going insane.

Did this happen? Did anything happen? Is Asakura still alive? What if she isn't? What if she is? Does she know? SHOULD she know? I stared down at my knife. It was pristine. In perfect condition. As if I had not bathed it in a woman's blood but mere minutes ago. The blade slipped back into the handle with an ease that seemed so inappropriate for the situation.

Panting heavily, I made my way out of the classroom. Waiting there for me was the one person I really had no wish to face at the moment.

Nagato Yuki.

"You- you! What is it?" I asked that in a hurry. It sounded rather suspicious. "Is Suzumiya...okay?"

"Suzumiya Haruhi's physical injuries were minor. I have not come to speak with you for that purpose." Every word she spoke only served to incite that horrible feeling yet again. "Rather, it is what you have done to the data flow governing this world that I wish to speak about."

That data bullshit again. I felt an irrational anger at hearing my murders equated to mere data.

"What do you mean? I haven't-"

"Do not deny my accusations. I felt the disappearance of my backup interface, Asakura Ryouko. She disappeared exactly five minutes and thirty five seconds ago in the classroom behind you."

There was a sudden explosion, and I found myself in the middle of a large desert. Nagato stood there, unfazed by the change in scenery. She was the one that did this. A witch. Some sort of demon.

"What is this?" I choked that out despite my surprise.

"This is a separate data plane that I have requisitioned from the Data Integration Thought Entity to ensure the total privacy of the ensuing affairs.

"You, Kyon, have been judged by the Data Integration Thought Entity to be a threat to the world. A threat that is much greater than the one posed by Suzumiya Haruhi. Our assessment of your abilities is incomplete, but we have concluded that you have the ability to erase data from the world at will. It is not known how or when you attained this ability, only that it is not apparent anywhere in your data. It is supposed to be a non factor. It does not truly exist. As such, we cannot quantify and remedy it.

"Therefore, we have chosen to take countermeasures to prevent you from incurring any other damages upon this plane. To appease Suzumiya Haruhi, we will create a Humanoid Interface in your likeness.

"I am about to rewrite the data that makes up your being. You will cease to exist to keep such an anomaly from surfacing elsewhere."

After that, she dropped down into a combat stance and charged towards me with speed that was far greater than that of Asakura's. It was all I could do to roll out of the way of such an assault.

She did not stop there. Without even touching upon the ground, she continued onto my position with ridiculous promptness. It was at a point where I could only barely make out her features in the haze that was her figure.

Then, she stopped. She stood a few meters away from me, her face betraying a quizzical expression. "Why have you not used your ability to delete data yet? Do circumstances not allow you to make use of your ability at will?"

In response, I took my glasses off and pocketed them. I drew my knife from my pocket and flicked it open, hearing that satisfying click as I dropped into a stance that had long been buried deep within my mind. To tell the truth, it felt good. As if I was dead all this time, and had recently returned to the world of the living.

"It is useless to engage me with physical objects. Any and all data changed by the application of such an item will return to its default state immediately."

"Are you saying...that I can't kill you?"

"That is correct.

Blood rushed through my head, sending a jolt of electricity through the nerves that connected my brain to my eyes. I saw the familiar lines everywhere, even on Nagato. Points dotted nearly every space. She was wrong. I could kill her.

I could kill anything.

"We'll see about that, I guess." Then, I charged forward. But I did not make to strike Nagato. No, instead I cut the lines beneath her feet, causing the ground itself to fall apart. She began to fall, but flew up, suspending herself in midair.

She said something and a pillar of sand rose up, threatening to engulf me. I ran along it, using pure speed to scale it with only my legs. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. My body was on fire, and it felt _good._ I felt a grin crack my face. When I reached the apex, I jumped off the pillar towards the flying Nagato.

She was not prepared for this.

I noticed then, that the same lines that connected Asakura and Suzumiya to what appeared to be nothing were also existent on Nagato. A thought crossed my mind. What if I severed all of those lines?

She made to block, but look confused when I shifted my momentum and instead appeared to slash at the air around her. In truth, I was severing her connection to something. I had a few theories as to what could happen.

Her eyes widened. It appears that she had caught on to whatever it was that I was doing. Her brown orbs screamed desperation, but I didn't care. I cut the last line without a second thought.

Then I heard it. The pained scream of a human girl.

She fell through the air at an alarming rate. The world around us began to crumble, and I too began to fall from the sky. I willed myself to see more, despite the loud protest that my skull gave. Then, I saw it. The central point that marked the 'existence' of this world. With a flick of the wrist, I tossed my knife at it.

And suddenly, Nagato and I were back in the classroom, my knife laying a few feet away from me. My eyesight was blurry, but that much I could make out. Getting back up, I picked it up and slipped it into my pocket before anyone could see me. I turned back to the girl whimpering on the ground. I no longer felt that wave of xenophobic anger when I saw her. Instead, all I could sense from her was fear. She didn't know where she was and what she was doing. I think that when I cut those lines, I severed the connection to whatever higher power had spawned her.

In short, I had cut away the excess to reveal the human girl buried beneath the rubble, barely clinging to life.

I didn't know what to do. My glasses were still off if my pounding headache were anything to go by and I could see that there were many more lines and points on her than before I had cut away the links. She was in roughly the same condition that Suzumiya was.

She posed no more threat. And now was not the time to worry about what I was becoming. Now, there was a hurt human being lying at my feet.

After putting my glasses back on, I bent down and cradled her in my arms. She looked up at me with tear-filled eyes, and a wave of guilt came crashing through me. I smiled weakly at her and made for the nurse's office.

It was difficult to ignore the stares that we were getting. People pointed and whispered, and I could only imagine what they thought had happened to Nagato. It didn't really matter what they thought, though.

The truth was so much worse.

I idly wondered how much of a sight I looked after engaging in combat with the two 'Humanoid Interfaces.' To my surprise, I realized that neither of them had even struck me during the fights. Exactly what happened back then isn't clear to me, but I knew then that something was wrong. Something was off about my body and mind, if I could simply kill and forget.

I sat in a small room with the members of the SOS Brigade, watching as Nagato and Suzumiya rested in the small beds the school could provide.

Their situations were all my fault. If I had simply let those lines strike me, Suzumiya would be okay right now. As for Nagato?

I don't even remember what exactly I did to her.

Then, I wondered if I could kill sickness. If I could stab the concept of pain within their bodies, and get them to be alright again.

Thinking of how much I would have to concentrate to do that made my head hurt.

I moved over to Nagato's bedside, watching her sleeping face. I lowered my glasses a little and was relieved to find that there weren't as many lines as there were a few minutes ago. It seemed that the girl was getting much better. The spoke-like lines that once radiated out from her no longer existed.

I spared a glance over at Haruhi, where the other members had their attentions focused. I had severed maybe three or four of the lines connected to her. However, countless others were slinking their way everywhere, touching everyone and everything in the room.

Except, I noticed, me.

Eventually, we had to return to class. I took one last look at the two girls before leaving the room and wishing them good luck.

* * *

Asakura obviously did not return from class. There was a bit of an uproar, as no one believed that Asakura Ryouko would simply skip class. Time passed, and eventually the day ended. Students filed out of class, Asakura out of their mind for the most part. 

I made my way back towards the nurse's office to the sight of Suzumiya ranting something in Nagato's general direction. For her part, Nagato looked like a frightened puppy. Her eyes were filled with terror at the sight of the terrifying woman ranting at her. Her body was shaking. I felt terrible.

She was such a far cry from the alien who tried to kill me just hours ago.

"Yo." I said that greeting, though from the look on Suzumiya's face it was far too casual for such an occasion.

"What do you mean 'yo?!' I'm unconscious for four hours and the only thing you can say is 'yo?!'" I shook my head. I was partially hoping that severing those ties would have incited some sort of change, but it seems to have only made her angrier.

"Nagato, how are you feeling?" I say this and approach her bed. Immediately she sat up straight and huddled over to the wall, burying herself in her blanket.

It was way too cute.

"F-fine." She said this with an uncharacteristic stutter. It was so unlike her I did a double take, much to the confusion of the room's other party. "Um, I don't mean to bother you, but--"

"Hm?"

"Who exactly are you?"

The question hit me like a truck. Who am I? By severing those lines, did I kill her memory? Was she even herself anymore? I tried to think it through rationally. She still knew her name. She seemed scared, so she either remembered our fight or did not remember the school.

"I'm Tohno Shiki. We're in the same year, remember?" I tried to say it casually, but I could hear the nervousness in my voice. Nagato stiffened up and further huddled up in her blanket. Suzumiya watched all of this with a look of irritation.

"T-that's right." There was an uncertain tone in her voice that made me worry. "You're Tohno Shiki, and that's Suzumiya Haruhi."

I beamed. "Correct. You passed out in the halls, and I brought you here." The lie made me want to break something.

She looked away and blushed. "R-right."

"You know Kyon, if you hadn't refused to join my club this never would've happened!" The statement was incredibly stupid, but technically correct. I looked over at her. Her arms were crossed and she looked far too lively for someone who had been out for hours.

Nagato looked up at me curiously. "Um, Kyon's my stupid nickname. You can just call me Shiki or Tohno or whatever you want." She looked down and nodded.

"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" Suzumiya got up from bed and got right up in my face. A bead of sweat rolled down my face. "So in exchange for me not pressing charges, you're joining my club! Do you got that?!"

"P-pressing charges?!" The thought that someone like Suzumiya could give competent story to a lawyer was unsettling. "You can't-!"

"You caused me undue mental duress by refusing to join my club." She smirked. "So this is an out of court settlement. You're joining the SOS Brigade."

A brief thought flitted through my mind. A whim. A purely impulsive thought. I laughed. I laughed and backed away from the madwoman spouting these ridiculous ideas at me. "You know what? Fine. I'll join you." A satisfied smirk appeared on her face. "But not for you."

"What?"

I put a hand on Nagato's shoulder and grinned. She stiffened up in response to my touch. "She's still injured, and I don't want a banshee like you hounding her all day. So until she's better, she's my responsibility."

I didn't let her come up with a response. Despite the fact that I had just been sucked into a world of the supernatural, where aliens, time travelers, and espers had free run of the world, I felt like I had won a small victory. I moved out of the room, passing by the pair of Koizumi and Sempai.

"I joined the club. I'm with you, I guess."

"Kyon, that's great!" Sempai embraced me before promptly pulling away in embarrassment. I laughed.

"I knew you'd see it our way, Kyon." Koizumi said this with that fake smile in place. "It seems that Miss Suzumiya's plan was getting sick in order to worry you. It looks like it worked."

"Haha, I suppose you're right." I felt like I had just been removed from between a rock and a hard place. It seemed that even Koizumi had to grasp for an explanation to rationalize all this. I could only be thankful he did not make the connections the Humanoid Interfaces had. "She's more devious than I gave her credit for."

"This situation only proves just how important you are to her, Kyon. She was willing to suffer through all that just so you wouldn't leave her. It is a testament to Miss Suzumiya's determination." He somehow managed to say all that with a straight face. That familiar feeling of guilt once again made itself known and I hastily excused myself.

* * *

After dinner, I laid on my bed and thought about what had happened. 

I was disgusted.

I was utterly disgusted at my actions. In only a few hours, I had driven myself to kill two people. People that I barely even knew. I could have reasoned with them. In Asakura's case, I could have just told her about my eyes. It was selfish of me. I wanted to live a normal life.

But when you have to kill to achieve a normal life, just how normal is it?

I practically killed Nagato. She was still alive. Her body was fine, and it seemed like she remembered everything that didn't have to do with her Data Integrated Thing. But that was her entire personality up until now. The Data Something made her the person that she was. Without that, she was basically a blank slate.

I killed that Nagato Yuki. There's a new Nagato Yuki, but she isn't the same person. I can only do my best to atone by helping the new one as much as a possibly can. To that end, I will protect her from whatever will be wrought by the existence of the SOS Brigade.

Koizumi was wrong.

Now, Nagato was the only normal human being in a club full of freaks. They're not aware, but my eyes make me just as special as any of the rest of them. In the end, the eyes made it impossible for me to live that normal life I so desired. It was entirely because of them that I could not leave well enough alone. That I could not just ignore Suzumiya Haruhi and go about my own life.

I picked up my knife and raised it. With a flick of my wrist, the blade extended itself. The Nanatsu-yoru was not a spectacular knife. It seemed cheap and old. Yet, it was the only tie I had to my old family.

But they're not really my family, are they?

Memories came rushing to the forefront of my mind. Suppressed memories of horrible things. A crimson field. My mother, dead at my feet.

Then, it all changed. I heard the sound of cicadas chirping in the background. I saw a boy with shock white hair standing over my body. His lips were curled into a feral sneer.

SHIKI.

Yes, that's my name. But what is his? Who is he?

My chest was burning. I tore my shirt open. Blood. There was blood everywhere.

* * *

I opened my eyes with a start. A dream. That didn't happen. I idly traced the scar that dominated the majority of my chest. That was a car accident. That was the reason my father disowned me. What was all that other stuff, then? 

I looked up at the clock. It was three in the morning. Despite this, I could not sleep. My mind was shocked into a constant state of alert. My knife lay at my side. I quickly pocketed it. I had not changed clothes before falling asleep, so I quietly made my way out of the house and into the streets.

I had not been outside so late in a long time. It was a tranquil night, and I could not even hear the sound of animal calls. Cars seldom passed the street where I lived. All in all, it was a very calming experience. I made my way towards an old park where I used to play with Miyako.

On the way, I passed a strange woman. She was a foreigner, and ethereally beautiful. My head pounded, but I ignored it. Now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts. We didn't exchange a word. Perhaps it was better that way.

I made my way over to the park's bench. There was a figure sitting on it, hugging her knees to her chest. Worried, I made my way over to it. What I saw shocked me.

There was Nagato Yuki, sitting on a park bench at three in the morning. Her eyes were moist, and she appeared to be looking at nothing. The sight awakened within me a compassion I did not know I could feel.

It wasn't until I sat down beside her that she noticed my presence. She gave a yelp and jumped a little, though she didn't move from her seat. I favored her with a small smile.

"Nagato, it's three in the morning. Shouldn't you be asleep?" She looked at me uncertainly. I was, for all intents and purposes, a stranger to her. Someone who carried her to the nurse's office once, and nothing more.

"I, um, couldn't sleep. I've been..." She trailed off then.

"Thinking?"

"Y-yes. About all of this. About joining Miss Suzumiya's club. To tell you the truth, I'm a little..."

I decided to push my luck once more. "Apprehensive?"

"N-no, more like scared." A nervous quake seemd to underline all of her words. "I don't even remember agreeing to join, and she took my clubroom without even asking. But I don't want to make her angry, she's so much more forceful than I am."

She shot a glance at me. It was probably the first eye contact we had made all night.

"To tell you the truth, I don't want to join." I wasn't surprised by that. This new Nagato seemed to have many more human emotions than the Interface who I had.

Killed.

But neither was the other, and I could not make judgments based on past experiences. I had to actually get to know this Nagato Yuki.

"You don't have to, you know. You can quit anytime." I said this, though I did not entirely believe it. If Suzumiya was as all-powerful as the others stated, then someone who had no form of defense against her could not possibly go resist her will if she felt strongly about something. "We could quit together. I wouldn't mind joining the Literary Club, actually."

She blushed and looked down, unable to retain eye contact for more than moment. It was a quality that I could not reconcile with the taciturn girl who never showed a single weakness. "T-that's alright. You'll be there, right? Y-you said you'd help me. So if Miss Suzumiya..."

"If Suzumiya tries to force you to do something you don't want to do, I'll talk some sense into her." I raised my voice slightly to say that. This was a person that I killed once. I had a responsibility to her now. Had she been aware of what I had done, I knew she would have me take responsibility for killing her. "You don't have to worry. I've got your back."

She slowly turned and did something that I would never have thought possible. She looped her arms around my neck and hugged me, burying her face into my shoulder. I was horrified that someone who I had so wronged would be willing to put so much trust into me. Guilt shot through my every nerve.

I had.

A responsibility.

I returned the hug. In my case, it was a guilty pleasure. From then on, she would look upon me like a princess looks upon her knight. It was an honor that I did not deserve. I was bound by the teachings of my Sensei--

No.

As Tohno Shiki, I was bound to give my life to help her in whatever way I could. It was the only way I could truly pay her back, and even then it would never be enough.

Hesitantly, she released me. I smiled and told her to go home and get some rest. Since it was probably four in the morning at that time, I escorted her to her apartment. I still wasn't used to the elevator in her building.

She lived alone. It made sense. If the Data Integration Something had created her, then she had no family. Despite this, the thought of the poor girl wasting away in a dark, lonely room heavily disturbed me. She hugged me one last time, then retreated into her apartment.

What kind of person was I? I was concealing the truth from her. She deserved to know.

Yet...

I couldn't hurt her.

I made my way home, conflicting thoughts staging a battle within my mind.

A/N- This is a modification of the original concept presented by KChasm in his story _The Melancholy of Tohno Shiki._ The idea was never mine originally, but I felt that such a one-shot had the capability to be expanded. In truth, I would have preferred for KChasm to continue himself (as his writing is a bit more fluid than mine, and lends itself nicely to both universes), but I will settle for taking this in my own direction. Thanks, KC.


	2. Nanaya Shiki

Disclaimer: I don't own either of the series.

I honestly don't know what possessed me to head out and meet with Suzumiya's club on a day off. On a Saturday, I'd usually still be asleep at nine in the morning. It's a bad habit I've had since I was little. I'd stay up late, then in the morning I wouldn't be up until noon.

I made it at the designated spot a good five minutes before everyone was supposed to be there. Oddly enough, it seems that I was not the last one. Suzumiya gave me a quick glare before I parked my bike by a closed bank. It didn't really matter.

It was closed.

Then, at nine on the dot, Nagato came running down the street. By the time she reached us, her face was flushed from exhaustion.

That's right. She's probably worried about the SOS Brigade, and not getting enough sleep for it. I've never wanted to tell off Suzumiya so bad, but the possible repercussions made me hold off. Right now, Nagato looked like she needed help standing up.

"Late. Penalty!"

She said this while looking at Nagato, a superior smirk placed firmly onto her face.

"What? But, I'm not late..."

"Doesn't matter if you weren't late. The last person here gets penalized. That's my rule."

"S-so, what's the penalty?" I swear to God...

Wait.

What the hell do I swear on? My eyes?

No. That's a bit arrogant.

"You have to buy everyone something to drink."

"I, don't have any money with me..." Nagato trailed off. She couldn't make eye contact with Suzumiya. Suzumiya looked ready to go off on a tirade, but I shook my head and put a few hundred yen into the palm of Nagato's hand. She looked up at me, eyes betraying wonder and gratitude.

"I-I can't take this, Miss Suzumiya said I have to pay for the-"

"It's okay; it's not much money. Don't worry about paying me back, either. I'm just doing this as a favor." I smiled at her then. She blushed and looked away. Suzumiya glared daggers at the two of us, and I saw from the look on their faces that Sempai and Koizumi were confused about something.

Of course.

How could I have been so stupid. If Nagato suddenly had a personality change and couldn't remember anything about her Data Integration Thought Entity, there'd be an inquisition. Koizumi made it entirely too clear that all three factions were in communication with one another. Questions would be asked, then...

I didn't want to think about it. Instead, I followed the group into a nearby café, where Suzumiya made some sort of outlandishly expensive order. Sighing, I handed Nagato more money, which she tried to refuse. I responded by putting my hands in my pockets. I wasn't taking any of it back.

I sipped at my drink (a simple Coke), while Suzumiya explained what was going to happen. We were going to split into two groups and search the city for...something. If we found something, we'd make contact with the other team via cell phone and continue the investigation.

Except we weren't investigating anything. The thought made my head hurt.

We drew lots to decide on the teams. In the end, it was Nagato, Koizumi, and Suzumiya on one team with Sempai and I on the other.

So, I basically got a free date. After some of the things I had done that week, it hardly seemed appropriate.

Suzumiya turned to us and explained in no simpler terms that this was not a date for either of us.

Sure. But I wasn't about to spend my time wandering around looking for nothing when I could take this grand opportunity to have a little fun with a pretty girl, of course.

We wandered out and split up, with one final warning that this was not a date. Rolling my eyes, I turned to Sempai.

"So? Sempai. Is there something you wanted to do today?"

"Um, not really. Didn't Miss Suzumiya want us to find something?" She asked all this with such a dear expression on her face. It warmed my heart.

"She did. But we have an alien, a time traveler, and an esper already." She giggled a little. "And unless you just want to run back and tell her, I don't think we have anything to report."

"I guess so." She suddenly had a pensive look. "Why don't we just walk for a while? You spent a lot of money paying for our drinks, Kyon."

"It wasn't too much." I neglected to mention the rather nice child support check that came in from the Tohno Mansion every month. If anything nice came about as a result of the car accident, it was that. The thought made me feel a little sick. "Seriously. If you want to do anything, I don't mind."

"Then, um..." She looked a little nervous. As long as she didn't want a car or something, I seriously didn't care what she asked for. "Can we go shopping for a while? I'm not going to buy too much, I promise!"

I quirked an eyebrow, inadvertently displacing my glasses. I readjusted them promptly. "No problem. Lead the way."

And so I was off to go shopping with the prettiest girl in school. Somehow, the situation made me feel nostalgic. The way Sempai was acting, it reminded me of a girl I knew at my old school. What was her name?

Everyone called her Sacchin. But that wasn't her real name. It was...

Sempai pulled me out of my daze. "That's such a pretty bag..." Her voice was barely above whisper. I turned to look at the bag she was eyeing in the store window. It was a quaint little thing, made of red leather. Unassuming, but very chic.

My personal opinion of a woman's purse made me feel uncomfortable.

"Sure. How much is it?" My voice startled her out of her thoughts. She refuted me, saying that she didn't really need the bag. That I didn't have to buy it for her. I laughed and strode off into the store.

I came face to face with various older women curiously staring at the teenage boy in their shop. I started to sweat a little, but I strode right up to the counter and bought the bag. I walked out amidst piercing eyes.

"Here you go." I handed it to her and her eyes lit up in joy. She jumped up and hugged me, much to consternation of several of our classmates that happened to pass by. I gave a nervous smile and waved back. If nothing else, this would be difficult to explain away.

Suzumiya didn't like it when we spent time together. What would happen if that irritation manifested in a more physical form? I shuddered.

About two hours later I was loaded down with all sorts of trinkets that happened to catch Sempai's eye. I figured that not being able to buy a lunch for one day wouldn't really kill me. Good things have to come to an end though.

My cell phone rang, and Suzumiya demanded that we be back at the meeting spot by noon. I checked my watch. That was in about ten minutes, and we were roughly a mile away. I told her as such, but she would have none of it. Suzumiya hung up, and I looked at Sempai with what I guess was a resigned expression on my face.

"I'm sorry Kyon. I-I'll pay for our lunch, don't worry!" She added the last part rather hastily. We both walked rather briskly to the station that was our meeting spot. If anyone could ruin a peaceful mood, it was Suzumiya.

* * *

"Results?" Ten minutes late. Not too bad, I guess. 

"We didn't find anything."

"Were you even looking? Are you sure you weren't off playing?" I wondered if she could turn her anger into a physically oppressive force. If she could, my eyes would surely be no match.

Sempai shook her head, but I barely noticed. Instead, I turned my gaze towards Nagato, who looked rather exhausted. She noticed that I was looking at her, and ducked her head down. A blush settled over her face, and I approached her.

"Hey, Nagato. Did you guys find anything?" I said that with a touch of humor. Of course they hadn't.

"A-actually, we did." My eyes widened. What?

"Really?"

"We found these women fighting in an alley. One of them was dressed up in a white sweater with a lavender skirt while the other was wearing a nun habit."

White sweater...lavender skirt...?

"As we made to approach, they just jumped backwards and then they were gone." She looked down. "I-I know it sounds unbelievable, but-"

"It's alright Nagato. I believe you." A smile spread across her face and I felt the sudden desire to take her into my arms right there. I settled for smiling back.

"Hey! You two!" Suzumiya ruined our moment in an instant. I turned my eyes towards her, only to be reminded of the impossibility that lay just beyond the lenses of my glasses. Her apparent perfection was a paradox unto itself.

What is a being that can only die at certain times, under certain conditions? What-

"We're eating here. This is a good place." Her voice broke me out of my reverie. She looked expectantly at me. I glared back and made my way towards the counter to order. From what I remembered hearing, it was three number ones, a salad for Sempai, and a chicken sandwich for Nagato.

Eventually, our order was called and Nagato arose from her seat to assist me.

It was nice. She was nice. But whenever I thought that the change was for the better, I saw the desperate face of the first Nagato Yuki staring into my cursed eyes in terror right before I ended her life with a few waves of my arm. No matter how much warmer the human Nagato was in comparison, she was a constant reminder of how much I had fallen.

We returned to the table with the trays in hand. The meal was anything but peaceful with the boisterous voice of Suzumiya spouting her so called grand design along with Koizumi agreeing with her like any typical yes-man.

"Kyon! Hey, Kyon!"

I looked up from my meal, clearly irritated. "What?"

"I asked you what you thought about what we found!"

"The two girls fighting?" I pondered the situation for a while. The description that Nagato had given me of the first woman was strikingly similar to the foreigner that I had encountered a few nights ago. However, I could not make a judgment based on clothes and didn't really want Suzumiya tracking her down.

The nun, however, was entirely new. I had no idea what a nun would be doing fighting in an alley with a foreigner. I had no idea what a nun would be doing fighting period.

"They were probably just having some sort of disagreement. You know how it is."

The word for her new expression was 'indignation.' "They disappeared into nowhere!"

I grimaced. Something inside me was telling me that this was the wrong path to pursue. That following those two women any further was going to lead to danger. My skull pounded, and I knew that I had to convince Suzumiya against going after any leads. "N-no, you're probably mistaken. There was probably a door or something in the alley that you didn't see. Maybe they just left the other way, and you didn't notice."

"What do you take me for Kyon?! I know what I saw." She 'harumphed' and crossed her arms.

"And even if you were right, it's absolutely none of your business. Those two women were having a disagreement. They left via mysterious transport. That's great. But it doesn't mean it has something to do with you." She looked as if she had been slapped.

Mission accomplished?...

From the look on Sempai and Koizumi's faces, it seems that I had done something wrong. I felt a familiar energy surging around Suzumiya, and I whipped my glasses off and onto the table. The lines of everyone eating in the restaurant filled my vision and my head threatened to split apart. There were points everywhere, and trying to block them out of my mind only marginally helped. I forced myself to look up at Suzumiya.

She was a welcome sight. Nothing marred her features. The black spokes that radiated from her were a marked contrast to her perfection.

Why...why wasn't she making her move? It was getting hard to breathe. I caught glimpses of everyone's faces. They appeared concerned. I was being too blatant. But I had to, I couldn't let myself be--

There. A line lashed out at me and I sliced it by imitating the motion of covering my eyes. I opened a single eye and saw faint lines begging to appear on Suzumiya, which meant she wouldn't be able to pull a trick like that again any time soon. She looked somewhat winded.

"G-glasses..." I managed to wheeze that out, though I wasn't going to be able to stay conscious much longer. Nagato gingerly placed my glasses on my face. I took a few deep breaths. In that moment, I took a look around the table.

Everyone's expression told a different story. Suzumiya wasn't even paying attention to me. She was too preoccupied with what I assumed was a very unnatural sensation for someone like her.

Koizumi looked worried, but I sensed some suspicion there too. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the anemia medicine that I had been taking for the past few years. I popped a pill; his eyes widened and the suspicion was gone.

Sempai looked at me with simple worry. I smiled weakly in response.

As for Nagato...

She was clinging onto my sleeve for dear life. Her head was rested on the side of my arm, and I could feel some tears beginning to build up there. I raised her head with a hand and looked her in the eyes. She choked back some tears.

"I-I was just worried, I thought-!"

"It's alright. Just a mild anemia attack. I've had it for about five years now. I'm fine." I said that to reassure her. The moment was yet another symbol of just how different this Nagato was. Reluctantly, she removed herself from my arm. She still looked distressed.

I was just glad that Suzumiya didn't seem to be paying attention. There would be hell to pay otherwise. It seems that Sempai and Koizumi had thought the same, for they had moved to obscure Nagato and I from her vision.

Were Koizumi less blatantly two-faced, he'd make a great friend.

Suzumiya tried to put up a front. "Well, in light of recent events I believe we should cut this meeting short. This is my decree." She seemed to stagnate for a second. "SOS Brigade, DISMISSED!"

I happily left her there alone. I was surprised to find that Nagato was apparently following me.

"Do you want something Nagato?"

She stared at me for a good long while. After what was probably a minute, I became uncomfortable with the situation. Having pretty girls stare at you was usually a good thing, but when you had killed that pretty girl once before...

Suddenly, she was in my arms and I had no idea how she had got there. We stayed like that for a while, with me just holding her. It took me some time to figure out why, but it came to me.

In a world where you couldn't remember anything about yourself, who would you turn to?

Naturally, the first person to help you. I was Nagato's support. Her knight with devil eyes. She was depending on me to keep her safe and happy. I was supposed to be a pillar of unwavering strength, but my anemia kept me anything but.

I pulled her out to arm's length and looked her in the eye. "Why are you crying?"

"Shik-Tohno, I-"

"Shiki. If you want to call me that, I'm fine with it, remember?"

"S-shiki, I thought you were..." She closed her eyes. I took her glasses off and wiped away some tears. I noticed something odd about the lenses.

Nonprescription. They neither helped nor hinder her eyesight. Similar to mine, without the magic powers. I looked at her while she gazed back up at me curiously.

"You look cuter without glasses."

She looked up at me incredulously before blushing and turning her head. I laughed and handed her glasses back.

It pleased me to note that rather than putting them back on she stuffed them in her pocket.

"My aunt's making dinner right now. Do you want to come over?"

Her eyes widened. A look of pure joy danced across her face and she nodded without skipping a beat. Wordlessly, we walked towards my home. I knew then. I knew what she wanted. Why she was so keen on coming to my house rather than returning to her apartment.

She didn't want to be alone.

* * *

Perhaps it would've been better if we had just gone over to her apartment for dinner. It was hard to be lonely with Miyako buzzing around you, but that didn't make it a very pleasant experience. 

I noticed, though, that Nagato seemed to be happy. My little sister peppered her with questions, and she answered them all without skipping a beat.

"You're really pretty."

"T-thank you."

"Kyon has good taste."

Nagato immediately turned away so that I couldn't see her face. I decided to ignore the comment.

"My name is Shiki, Miyako."

"I know that Kyon." She giggled and skipped out of the room to go help with dinner. I followed her moving form exasperated.

I turned to Nagato, desperate for comprehensible dialogue. "She's a bit of a pain sometimes."

She giggled softly into her hand, which as far as I'm concerned was a rare sight. "I thought she was nice."

"I suppose so."

We continued like that until my aunt called us for dinner. She looked up from the table and caught sight of Nagato. Her mouth made a small 'o.'

"And who's your friend, Shiki?"

Nagato bowed low in what I thought was excessive respect. "Nagato Yuki, ma'am."

"You know Yuki, you're the first person that Shiki's brought over since Arihiko still lived around here." She smiled fondly at the thought of my first friend. "It's nice to see that he's still making friends."

Nagato shot a surreptitious glance at me but I met her eyes before she could turn away. I smiled. She blushed and smiled back.

Then, I saw the face of a girl about to die. The moment was ruined. I turned back to the dinner table before she could see the look of horror on my face.

What in the world was I doing? Here was a girl who I had killed. Who I had saw fit to set my eyes of death upon. Whose entire life was cut away from her by a homicidal madman with a knife and some special eyes.

I pushed the thought away, trying to focus instead on the progress that Nagato was making. Everyday, she seemed more and more comfortable with herself. If I could not bring the old her back to life, then I could nurture this new Nagato Yuki as best as I could.

This Nagato Yuki, who is a human being.

This Nagato Yuki, who is capable of emotions.

This Nagato Yuki, who is my friend.

Dinner was amiable, if not embarrassing. My aunt quickly got the wrong impression of our relationship, and it was mistake that neither Nagato or I was suited to fixing. Miyako backed up my aunt, and began to speak of marriage before I clamped a hand over her mouth. Poor Nagato was entirely red.

* * *

The next day at school I was faced with a peculiar letter signed by one Asahina Mikuru. It read, "I'll be waiting in the clubroom during lunch." 

Confusion wracked my brain as I wondered why Sempai couldn't just talk to me in the cafeteria. Embarrassment, maybe? Was I that much of an eyesore to the crowd she hung out with?

I dismissed the thought. Sempai was not so malicious.

I opened the door to the clubroom. There was Sempai alright.

Except taller.

And bustier.

"So you're Sempai's sister, right?"

"What? No, Kyon, think!"

Sempai. Time travel.

Duh, Tohno.

"Look, I'll prove it to you!" And she began unbuttoning her blouse. It was a hypnotizing sight and I couldn't tear my eyes away. I was staring so intensely I was afraid that my glasses might fail under the strain.

Disappointingly, she stopped after the second button. Then, she thrust her cleavage at me.

"Look. I have a star-shaped mole here, right? It isn't fake. Want to touch it to make sure?"

A tempting proposition, but it wasn't something I would be willing to do to the Sempai that I knew.

"Do you believe me now?"

Unfortunately, I've never studied Sempai's body long enough to learn of minute details like that.

"Oh...I see, so it?...Ah!" She seemed panicked. Her face turned red in an instant. "I made a mistake! Forget what I just showed you!"

"That...would be difficult. Sempai, please button up your shirt."

She did so.

"Does the Sempai of today know you're here?"

"No, I didn't know at the time. And she is my past.

"Anyway, I'm sorry but I don't have much time. Do you know about Snow White?"

I briefly recalled the fairly tale in my head. It was quite the uplifting story. I vaguely remember reading it to Akiha and my first friend. I smiled remembering how they'd argue over who was Snow White. More often than not, it was my friend, because her eyes were-

Ba-dum.

My head began to pound. Why couldn't I remember?

I looked up at Sempai, who had a worried look on her face. "It's nothing. Yeah, I know about Snow White."

The worry didn't leave her face. "Kyon, if you're feeling bad maybe I should-"

"No, it's okay. Get what you need to say out."

"Okay, I'll finish quick then. Just remember, one day you'll be in a harrowing situation with Miss Suzumiya. When that happens, you must remember the story of Snow White." Her face was downcast. "I can't tell you anymore, Kyon. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Sempai. Snow White, and something dangerous happening with Suzumiya. That's great. That narrows things down a lot."

"Kyon, when the situation happens, Miss Suzumiya won't be against it. But for me, you, and everyone else it will mean terrible things."

"I've got it." Honestly, I still didn't understand how Snow White was relevant to what sounded like such a disaster.

"Well then Kyon, I'll-"

"Wait. I have a question." A thought suddenly gripped me and refused to let go. "You're calling me Kyon, now. Does that mean that Sempai will never stop calling me Kyon?"

She giggled. "Ha ha, well, she isn't aware that your name is Shiki. Maybe you should tell her to call you that."

"It'd be futile. You're still calling me Kyon and you knew my name before I told you."

"You're right, aren't you? Well, I'll see you later then, Kyon."

She opened the door to leave. Standing right there was Nagato, grasping a paper bag with an anxious expression on her face. She caught sight of Sempai and the look quickly turned to one of confusion. "Shiki, is this?-"

"I'm Asahina Mikuru's cousin, Asahina Keiko. It's nice to meet you." She bowed low. Crafty.

"It's nice to meet you too. I-I'm Nagato Yuki, ma'am." Nagato bowed even lower. I needed to teach her the difference between respect and total obedience one of these days.

"So, Nagato here calls you Shiki, Kyon?" She looked back at me with an amused expression on her face. A look that I've never seen on Sempai. "Glad to see nothing's diverging."

She moved past Nagato and closed the door behind her. What did she mean by that? A multitude of questions swirled within me, but I knew there would be no point in going after her. I looked at Nagato, who was staring at me with a quizzical look.

"I wish I could tell you what happened, Nagato, but it's something private about Sempai." I said this and regretted it to a point. I really didn't want to lie to this girl anymore. But I knew that the future Sempai wanted me to keep things secret. "Sorry."

"It's okay Shiki." She sat down and I saw that she had two paper bags rather than one. "I wanted to see if you would eat lunch with me." Her voice became quieter and quieter until I could hardly hear her. I smiled and accepted the bag lunch she was offering to me.

"Thanks. Of course I will. You want to eat here in the clubroom, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Alright then." I opened up the bag to reveal a great looking bento. I broke the chopsticks and dug in. It was utterly delicious.

"Nagato, you are probably the best cook I have ever known in my life. This is the best meal I've ever had."

"Y-you flatter me." She tried to play it off, but she stuttered too much.

I knew then. That this truly was not the Nagato that I had killed but a new entity born of her remains. One that was not a slave to a higher power, who could transcend the artificial boundaries placed upon her by the so-called Data Integration Thought Entity.

I had not really killed Nagato.

I had freed her.

Those connections were shackles binding her to the Data Entity, and when I cut them her human self was allowed to shine through.

There wasn't anything I could do about Asakura. I wasn't sure what I had done, but by the end she was lying in pieces. She was dead, and I would be forever sorry about it. I would never forgive myself for killing her.

"You knew Asakura Ryouko, right Nagato?" I asked this uncertainly. Would she remember her?

"...Yes." She said this with some regret. Were they friends? The thought only served to poison the taste of Nagato's cooking. "She lived next door to me. She used to cook for me sometimes. It's too bad that she moved away." She ducked her head down.

"What was she like, Nagato?"

"She was always happy, smiling. Never looked down on anyone. There was always light in her eyes. She always listened to me. Ryouko really cared."

I was the scum of the earth for tearing this girl away from her only friend. If I had only exercised some restraint, then the two of them could be laughing and eating in the cafeteria instead of Nagato coming to here to eat with me, growing depressed.

"...I'm sorry, Nagato."

She looked up at me with questioning eyes. "Why?"

"That Asakura is gone."

"That...that isn't your fault."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell. I wanted to break something. I wanted to take my glasses off and destroy this clubroom.

But for her sake, I didn't. I remained strong.

I stood up and walked around to her side. She looked up at me before I caught her in an embrace, causing her to give a little yelp. I didn't let go for a long time.

* * *

"They said she moved to Canada! Canada! Does that even make sense?!" 

"Considering Canada exists, yes." If Canada is a euphemism for hell, the more cynical part of my mind thought. More and more, I felt myself slipping. As if I wasn't me, and the me within me was struggling to get out.

Does that makes sense?

"Then I asked for her contact information. Said I wanted to stay in touch."

"Suzumiya, I don't remember you ever speaking to her."

She ignored me and plowed on. "And guess what? They didn't even have that! Isn't that strange, Kyon?"

"Not really." I lowered my glasses a little to watch for an incoming attack. It never came.

"Since I was there, I asked for Asakura's old address. We'll go check it out after school. We might learn something."

I made a noncommittal grunting sound. I didn't really want to be reminded of Asakura. If Nagato was asked to participate, I'm not sure how she'd react...

"You're coming with me!"

"Why?"

"And you call yourself a member of the SOS Brigade?" She screamed it so loud I'm sure everyone in the building heard it.

I looked at her coldly. I don't think she wanted me to answer that.

"After school, then." I waved her off and made for my next class.

* * *

Nagato was waiting for me when I returned to the clubroom after school. I was sure she didn't want to be part of any of Suzumiya's snooping. 

And besides. She lived next door anyway.

I honestly didn't want her sitting alone in this clubroom for more than she could help, though. While the original Nagato had no problem doing nothing but reading books, I wasn't so sure if the same hobby extended to this one.

And sure enough, she was just waiting there, reading a book on physics with her mouth set in a little pout. One of us would really have to go out and expand the clubroom's library. It lacked any sort of entertaining fiction.

"Yo." Nagato looked up, a little smile on her face. I couldn't help but smile back, despite how angry I was at Suzumiya. "Nagato, Suzumiya wants to go 'investigate' why Asakura moved."

Her face fell. Was this subject taboo for her? I didn't want to make her uncomfortable if I could help it.

"She just wants me to come, I think, but are you interested too?" I said this as gently as I could. I wanted Nagato to know that she had a choice here. That just because I was asking her, she didn't need to come along with me. It was cute how complacent she was where I was concerned, but I didn't think it was healthy.

"Um..." She looked down. The problem with a human being having all the normal memories of Nagato Yuki was that they probably weren't particularly social memories. It was only natural that she didn't have the sort of easy confidence that an alien would among lesser beings. "I'm worried about Asakura too, actually. She didn't even tell me..."

_There's a good reason for that._

I pushed the voice out of my head. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that I had no idea how I had killed Asakura. One moment she's charging at me with a knife, and the next she's lying on the floor in pieces. The same with Nagato. Death threat, then we're suddenly in a desert. A brief memory of tracing those lines. Then, we're back in the classroom and she's completely normal.

My legs really hurt the day after. I'm still not sure why.

"So, you want to come with us?" She looked up at me and nodded. No room for arguing then.

Sempai and Koizumi hadn't arrived yet. I picked up a marker and wrote "SOS Brigade Self Activity Day -Haruhi" on a spare flyer and stuck in on the door. The incident had nothing to do with them.

It had nothing to do with Suzumiya either, I thought.

* * *

We met Suzumiya at the school's front gates. She turned to look, an angry expression dominating her face, before she caught sight of Nagato walking close to my side. She rounded on her. 

"What are _you_ doing here?" The way she said it was too forceful, and Nagato flinched. She ducked her head, refusing to meet Suzumiya's tempered gaze. "You know, I think I was wrong about you."

We both looked at her, the same question on both of our tongues. I lowered my glasses. Sure enough, the lines surrounding her were restless. I softly pushed Nagato behind me. "What do you mean, Suzumiya?"

"I mean that I let Yuki stay in the SOS Brigade because she had a role to play." I stared harder. Lines began to criss-cross her body, and I started to feel a little weak. "She was the the cute, silent girl. But I think I was wrong about her. She's just a shy girl. A dime a dozen."

My blood boiled. The lines became a stark darkness against Suzumiya's skin. My skull pounded. My blood rushed. My breathing was heavy and labored.

I should kill her. I should kill her for what she's saying.

_Yes. That's right._

No, I need to think this through rationally. I can't just kill her, as if her life didn't matter.

_Of course you can. Because it doesn't matter. And Yuki will appreciate you all the more for it._

She doesn't want that. She doesn't want any people to die. I have an obligation to protect her.

_And you're failing. That bitch Suzumiya is insulting her. The only way you can end this is by killing her._

N-no. I can resolve this peacefully.

_Do you want to see what happens when you cut all those lines around Suzumiya? Here, let me show you-_

I hurriedly pushed my glasses back up. Nagato and Suzumiya were looking at me. Suzumiya was looking at me indifferently. She didn't think I mattered. Nagato, however, was holding on to my sleeve again. I shot her a smile.

"S-sorry. Just my anemia again." The lie didn't make me feel better, but it seemed to reassure Nagato, who was holding on to my sleeve less tightly. She didn't let go.

"Alright, alright, whatever! We'll continue this conversation tomorrow!" Suzumiya said this in a huff. "For now, we're going to Asakura's apartment. Hurry up!" And she was running down the street.

I walked the unfamiliar route to Nagato's apartment. She walked ahead of us and punched in the code to open the gate. Suzumiya gave her a questioning glance. "I live here."

That placated her, and we continued in towards Asakura's room. I began to sweat. My head throbbed painfully. What right did I have to do this? Any of this?

We stopped in front of room 505. The nameplate was missing, meaning no one lived here. Suzumiya jiggled the knob, and I wasn't surprised to see that it didn't open. I had a thought then. Something outrageous.

A mere whim. I lowered my glasses.

While the other two weren't looking, I slipped out my knife and stabbed the lock mechanism's point. Because I had killed the 'existence' of the lock, the rest of the door appeared to stay the same. I replaced my knife. No one needed to know that I had that.

I reached out to the doorknob and pulled it open. Within was a perfectly empty room. There was no sign that it had been lived in at all. It seemed that Nagato and Suzumiya had gone on without me. They didn't notice I had left. That was good.

I sneaked in, trying not to trip some sort of security system. I checked all the rooms. It was perfectly identical to Nagato's apartment without any furniture. I sighed. There was nothing here at all.

I met back up with them, the excuse of 'bathroom' sliding easily from my tongue. Lying was becoming more and more natural to me. It made me want to hurl.

Suzumiya had interrogated the manager, learning a few of the circumstances around Asakura's move to Canada. The manager hadn't seen any movers, but I knew that was natural. I didn't see the need to enlighten Suzumiya, though my conscience said otherwise when I thought of Nagato's crying face. Asakura had moved to the apartment three years ago. That didn't really tell me anything. And apparently, Asakura had paid with a large sum of cash without needing a loan. So she was rich.

What does any of that have to do with you, Suzumiya?

They exchanged goodbyes. The manager rounded on me. "Lad. That young lady will definitely grow up to be a beauty. Don't let her get away."

Then Nagato sidled up to me and grasped my sleeve. The manager drank in the scene before laughing heartily and turning away. I didn't need to hear any more.

* * *

Nagato and I followed Suzumiya as she walked to nowhere. We were just getting farther and farther away from home. "Suzumiya, where are we going?" 

"Doesn't matter."

She stopped so suddenly Nagato and I nearly bumped into her.

"Say, have you ever realized how insignificant your existence is on this planet?"

Was that supposed to be some sort of insult?

"I have. It's something I'll never forget."

Her face eerily reminded of the Nagato of before. The thought that she had returned made me squirm uncomfortably.

"During elementary school when I was in sixth grade, the whole family went to watch a baseball game at the stadium. I wasn't particularly interested in baseball, but I was shocked once we got there. There were people everywhere I looked. The ones on the other side of the stadium looked like squirming grains of rice packed together. I wondered if every last person in Japan had gathered in this place. And so, I asked my dad. Exactly how many people were in the stadium? His answer was that a sold-out game meant around fifty thousand people. After the game, the path to the station was flooded with people. The sight stunned me. So many people around me, yet they only made up a fraction of the people in Japan. Once I got home, I got a calculator and did the math. We learned that the Japanese population was a hundred million and some in social studies. Divide fifty thousand into that and you only get one two-thousandth. I was stunned again. Not only was I just one little person in that sea of people in that stadium, but that sea of people was merely a drop in the ocean. I had thought myself to be a special person up until that point. I enjoyed being with my family, and most of all, I thought that my class in my school had the most interesting people in the world. But that was when I realized it wasn't like that. The things that happened in what I believed to be the most enjoyable class in the world could be found happening in any school in Japan. Everyone in Japan would find them to be ordinary occurrences. Once I realized this, I suddenly found that my surroundings were beginning to lose their color. Brush my teeth and go to sleep at night. Wake up and eat breakfast in the morning. People do those everywhere. When I realized that everyone did all these things on a daily basis, everything started to feel so boring. And if there were so many people in the world, there had to be someone living an interesting life that wasn't ordinary. I was sure of it. Why wasn't that person me? That's all I could think about until I graduated from elementary school. And in the process, I realized something. Nothing fun will happen if you sit around waiting. So I figured I would change myself in middle school. Let the world know that I wasn't a girl content with sitting around and waiting. And I conducted myself accordingly. But in the end, nothing ever happened. Before I knew it, I was in high school. I thought something would have changed."

By the time she was finished, she was out of breath. Nagato seemed to be considering her words thoughtfully, but I was too angry to really ponder them. What Suzumiya had just said were the words of a high school girl who thought herself perhaps a cut above the rest. One who could judge others as boring and inconsequential. Visions of my Sensei flooded through my head, and I could hear words long since memorized coming back in a new light. In an instant, I was emboldened by the ideals of the one I saw fit to call 'teacher.'

"You're wrong."

Suzumiya looked at me with a disbelieving look on her face. Her brow twitched. She was angry.

"People aren't all the same! We're all living beings. Do you think of everything in such black and white?!" I was one a tirade now. Even Nagato seemed slightly scared. "NO ONE is insignificant. NO ONE is fit to be dismissed as nothing, as a dime a dozen." Nagato perked up slightly at this. Good. I was angry but I didn't want her to be frightened.

"Every emotion you feel, every thing that you think- that's YOUR thought! YOUR feeling!" My glasses slipped, and I found myself face to face with a fragile world ready to split at any moment. "Every living thing has the potential to influence the lives of all others! We are many, but that doesn't mean that we are insignificant. That does not mean we are replaceable.

"It doesn't matter that we do similar things. As people, we are entirely unique. Perhaps, no, yes, we are all similar. But do you consider yourself insignificant?!" I rounded on her. She flinched, frightened. "Right now, there's probably someone else who wants what you want. To be special. To be different. To see something extraordinary, and maybe live it out.

"Do you know who that is?"

"N-no."

"That's everybody. Everyone thinks they're special somehow, and they're right. They're special because they're here. Because they're alive." I threw an arm into the sky. "And you desire even more? Be thankful for what you have.

"Because at any given time, someone can take it all away from you."

I turned to walk home. Surprisingly, Nagato came after me, clutching onto my sleeve in that light way that she did. "Shiki..."

"I'm okay, Nagato. She just said something really stupid." I smiled at her. "Do you want to come over for dinner again? I don't really want to leave you here."

"Y-yes." She blushed, but didn't look away. Our eyes met, and stayed locked. "Thank you, Shiki."

I felt good. I felt like I had gotten through to Suzumiya.

I didn't realize what I had set into motion. Just exactly what it is I did.

* * *

When Nagato and I had finally made it to my house, we found Koizumi waiting for me outside. She seemed confused, and to tell the truth so was I. There were no more matters to be discussed, where there? 

He shot a questioning look at Nagato, who simply cowered somewhat and moved a little behind me. Koizumi shrugged his shoulders and smiled like we had been friends for ten years.

It was so fake I wanted to hit him.

"Hello. I'm not entirely sure what Nagato is doing with you, but I came here to show you something."

"She's here to eat dinner." I said that plainly, with no room for argument.

Koizumi looked at me incredulously. His mouth was somewhat ajar, and his usual facade was completely gone. Then, he laughed long and hard. It was disconcerting.

"So, that's the game that the Data Integration Thought Entity is playing, huh?" I felt my chest constrict. There was no game. The Data Integration Thought Entity wasn't even a factor in her life anymore. It seemed that Koizumi didn't realize this. "Miss Nagato, you and I both know how dangerous this course of action is. Cease at once."

"W-what are you talking about?" Nagato looked up at him fearfully, while Koizumi kept that terrible grin on his face.

"Completely reprogrammed, I see. No matter." He gave a 'casual' shrug of his shoulders. "At the very least, take some precautions to make sure that Miss Suzumiya does not become too angry, won't you, Kyon?"

I decided to ignore him completely. "What is it you wanted, Koizumi?"

"Oh, yes. Could I have a bit of your time? There's somewhere I want to take you."

"Suzumiya, right?"

"Indeed."

"It'll have to wait. Nagato came all the way here to have some dinner and I don't want to disappoint her."

Koizumi's eyes hardened. "This isn't a game, Kyon. You know very well what Suzumiya is capable of. You're just a normal human being. There are things you must be made aware of in order to do your job."

"Normal human being, huh?" I lowered my glasses and took a look at the death worming its way through Koizumi's body. The red point in his chest seemed to glow. "I guess I am. And like a normal human being, I'm going to go inside my home right now and eat with my friend."

A hand wrapped around my forearm roughly. "Kyon. I am prepared to take you there by force if need be."

Koizumi's hand flew towards my neck in what I recognized to be an attack meant to disable, not kill. Dozens of suppressed techniques flooded my head. He was far too slow, and I managed to bend over backwards and place my foot onto his chest. His continued momentum meant that he had already done half the work, and he went soaring over my head. His body hit the sidewalk with a sickening crunch.

He got up and, to my horror, smiled. His face spoke of mild hysteria. Judging from the way it was twisted, his left arm was broken. "You've surprised me yet again, Kyon. Your anemia and lack of background in martial arts should have made it impossible for you to do that." He looked up at the sky.

"Koizumi. I'm sorry for that, but leave me alone. Suzumiya can wait." I said this while the familiar feeling of guilt was already making its way towards my mind. This incident was a slip-up. Something I never should have done. "Look, I'll go call the hospital, and-"

He raised a hand to silence me. "It's okay, Kyon. Go on and have dinner with-" He paused. "-Miss Nagato. I can attend to my own wounds." He hobbled down the street. Nagato watched all this silently.

I don't want to drag her back into that world. It doesn't suit her.

We walked into my home. Miyako jumped up and hugged Nagato. Nagato bent down and patted her head. My aunt greeted her and told us that dinner would be ready in a minute.

I wished that it could always be like this.

* * *

The next day, I found Nagato waiting for me as I began my trek to school. I couldn't say that I was too surprised. After all, she didn't live too far away. The thought that she would come over here just to spend some time with me in the morning filled me with a genuine happiness. 

We talked about anything but the SOS Brigade on our way to school. I found that it was good to get your mind off Suzumiya's machinations as much as possible in order to remain sane. Unfortunately, talking with Nagato led my mind to thought after thought until they rested firmly on the joyful face of Asakura Ryouko.

Dissociating the two was extremely difficult.

Nonetheless, it was enjoyable. I wouldn't mind doing it more often. Then, someone clapped me on the shoulder, with the familiar exclamation of "Hey, Tohno!"

I looked up to find a tall guy with orange hair looming over me. His shirt was ruffled up, and it seems that he had gotten earrings since I had last seen him.

"Yo, Arihiko." His face fell comically.

"Yo, it's been like months since we've seen each other! That all you got to say?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I thought you had moved away?"

"My 'rents sent me over here to live with my cousin for a while." He quirked an eyebrow. "Actually, that's similar to your arrangement Tohno."

"I've been living with the Arimas for years, Arihiko. My little cousin considers me her big brother now, and I'm pretty sure my aunt considers herself my mother." I took a breath. "It's more like being adopted, really."

"I see." He turned to look at Nagato. "Tohno! And who is this vision of beauty?"

Nagato bowed low. "Nagato Yuki."

"That's a beautiful name." Nagato looked a little uncomfortable. Arihiko never was one to be subtle. "Tohno, you going out with her?"

I considered my words. "Um, no, not really."

"Then, Miss Nagato. How would you like to go out with me this weekend?"

Nagato looked up at me. As if she was asking me if she could go.

'No' almost jumped out of my mouth. I rolled with it by faking a cough.

Sure. Why not. She could do what she wanted, it was her life-

I was cut off in mid-thought. She was grasping my sleeve again, with her head resting on my chest. What did she mean when she did this? I'm wasn't sure. I rubbed her back to console her, since she seemed obviously distressed at Arihiko's attentions.

"Ah, Tohno you bastard." He looked at me with teasing distaste in his expression. "You've done it again. They can't keep their hands off you."

I frowned at him. "I don't know what you're talking about Arihiko." Nagato had removed herself from me, though she kept that ever present light grip on my sleeve.

If this was her way of rejecting potential suitors, it was entirely too cruel.

"It's obvious that the gorgeous Miss Nagato is completely in love with you." I opened my mouth to object, but no sound would come out. "I can't come in between such a beautiful relationship."

"Arihiko, go to school."

He grinned. "Maybe some other time. I'm going to hit the pachinko parlors. You want to come with?"

I smiled. He never changes. "You know I never come with you."

"You're so uptight Tohno." He turned in the direction of a shadier part of town. "Later, then."

I watched his retreating form. It was good that Arihiko was back. He was another reminder that yes.

If I want to, I can live a normal life without aliens, time travelers, or espers.

"An interesting person." Nagato said offhandedly.

I just smile at her.

* * *

Throughout the day, I got the impression that Suzumiya was trying to ignore me. 

And to be honest, that suited me just fine. I reflected a bit. This year would be much less nerve-wracking had I not been put into a class with Suzumiya.

If I had never met Asakura Ryouko, or Nagato Yuki.

But, to an extent I'm thankful. I'm thankful that I got to meet people like Nagato and Sempai. I wasn't sure if it was worth it, but I wasn't regretting the situation.

The bell rang. I met up with Nagato and we made our way to the Literary Club clubroom. Suzumiya awaited us, her face silently telling me to shut up before I had even said anything. We sat down in our respective spots and I calmly watched Sempai make tea.

It really was delicious.

"Shiki."

Nagato called out for me with my name, a blessed recluse from a world in which everyone called me 'Kyon.' "Yeah, Nagato?"

She trembled a little then held out a plastic bag to me. I accepted it with a 'thank you' and she turned completely red. I opened it to reveal a book. It wasn't particularly thick, and the flavor text seemed to hint that it was quite entertaining.

"This is great. I've been looking for something to do in my spare time."

"If you have time to read books then you have time to help the SOS Brigade!" Suzumiya blurted that out rather unexpectedly. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, and she averted her gaze.

It's funny. I would never have pegged her for one willing to back down.

We turned back to whatever it was we were doing. I looked up at Koizumi. His arm was in a cast, but his ever-present smile did not waver.

"Koizumi."

"Mm?"

"Do you want to play Othello?"

"Sounds fabulous."

And we went and played Othello. I don't know why we had gathered that day. There was really no point. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened recently, and Suzumiya didn't seem to have the drive to find anything of interest.

It was the empty facade of a normal life. Here were Koizumi and I, playing board games and acting like best friends as if I hadn't broken his arm but a day ago. There was Suzumiya, surfing the Internet on a computer of unexplained origin.

Sempai, tidying up the room.

Nagato, who had given me a present out of the blue like an old friend.

I lowered my glasses. The lines of death snaked through the room, and rather than getting fearful, I got contemplative. Why exactly hadn't I done anything yet to stop all this? It would be a simple matter of severing all of Suzumiya's lines. I had eventually figured out, from remembering some of Asakura's comments, that they were the representation of Suzumiya's connection to the world.

If I cut them, she'd just be a normal human being, like what had happened to Nagato.

But I hesitated. For Nagato, the lines were just shackles binding her as a slave to a higher being.

What were they for Suzumiya? The risks were too high. I wasn't fit to play with human lives.

* * *

I lied awake in bed that night, thinking about some of the things I had said to Suzumiya a few days before. 

I actually felt pretty bad. I knew what it felt like to have your views completely ignored, seeing as that is what she basically did to me.

Then, a thought occurred to me. I had not refuted someone who had simple ideals.

Rather, I had refuted someone who could make their ideals a reality by order of a mere whim. Someone who could bend reality to their preference.

Someone who could make it so no other perceptions matter.

I took off my glasses just in time to see countless lines engulfing the world that I knew...

* * *

"...Kyon." 

Someone was slapping my cheek, trying to get me awake. I groaned. How annoying.

"Wake up."

My body hurt all over. What in the world happened?

"I told you to wake your ass up!"

A pair of hands began to strangle the life out of me. My head hit a hard surface.

I jumped up, and dropped into a ready stance before seeing that it was only Suzumiya. I calmed down and tried to relax my aching body.

"Finally awake?"

I nodded an affirmative. I looked down. I was wearing my blazer. I could feel the familiar weight of the Nanatsu-yoru in my pocket.

"Kyon, why are we here?"

You should be telling me that. "I don't know. Why are we at school, Suzumiya?"

"I wouldn't have asked you if I knew!"

"Never mind that, now. Let's just get out of the school. We might run in to someone we know."

"You don't seem very surprised."

I didn't dignify that with an answer. I couldn't stop wondering where we really were.

Gray skies. A barren world lacking a moon.

Did she create this? Was this what she wanted? Sempai's future self had hinted heavily at it.

We kept walking until we suddenly hit something. I could feel an invisible wall refusing us access to the outside world.

"Wha-? What the hell is this?!" Suzumiya pounded on the invisible wall while I lowered my glasses. Sure enough, there were a number of lines I could cut to break it.

"Back up." She looked at me questioningly, but did as she was told. I put my glasses in my pocket and pulled out my knife. I opened it with a deft flick of my wrist. Suzumiya jumped back in surprise.

"Kyon, what the hell do you have a knife for?!" She asked me this as if having a pocket knife was the most scandalous thing in the world. It didn't really matter. I was in bed when this happened. If I manage to fix things, we'll probably just end up back in the real world. She'll assume this was all a dream, and there won't be any awkward questions about my eyes.

I brought my arm down in a quick arc, tracing the longest line on the invisible wall. At first, nothing happened. Then, the wall turned opaque. Cracks formed on it like a spider web, and it soundlessly shattered into thousands of pieces.

The barrier had fallen. We were free to go through.

I looked back at Suzumiya. She didn't look surprised at all now. In fact, she looked absolutely delighted. "Kyon, what was that?"

"Don't ask." I manage to pass those words through my lips though the air seemed to be getting thinner. My skull was pounding. I thought I would eventually get used to using my eyes, but it only seemed to be tougher on my body every time. "It was nothing. C'mon, let's go find someone."

She grabbed onto my arm. Didn't she realize what a serious situation this was? We were locked in some strange, gray world. Then, I broke something with a knife and suddenly she's ecstatic. If she didn't keep the danger at the forefront of her mind, I don't think we'd ever get back.

Suzumiya looked up at me with bright eyes. "Kyon, you lied to me didn't you? You really are something else!" Her mouth was set in a small grin. If she was like this all the time I would honestly have no problem with her.

"Not really. I just broke the wall with a knife. It was made of glass or something."

"But you just slashed at it. Then, bam. Suddenly it all broke!"

"What's your point-"

I was cut off by the arrival of a large, blue giant. It was an incandescent being that seemed to be made entirely of blue light. It ignored us completely, opting to smash the surrounding buildings instead. My muscles tensed. I could see points and lines on it, but it was so large...

"What is that? Some kind of alien?" She sounded like a kid in a candy store. I don't make a lot of requests, but then I just wanted her to shut up.

The blue thing seemed to stare at us. Or rather, it seemed to look right at me. Did it consider me a threat?

"I don't think it wants to hurt us, Kyon. I don't think it's evil. Just a guess."

As if to mock her, it swung a fist in our general direction. I swept Suzumiya into my arms and ran as fast as I could. It smashed the street corner we were standing at. I watched in awe as pavement and drainpipes flew into the air.

I set her upon the ground. She looked breathless, for some reason. "Stay right here. I'll take care of this."

She looked up at me and gave me a brilliant smile. Was this what she wanted? Did she want me to save her?

This time, I had no choice but to grant that wish.

I ran along the wall of a building right before the giant smashed into it, jumping into the air and landing on a nearby lamppost. All the major lines were too high up to attack on the ground. I would need to scale the beast.

My body was burning, but it didn't feel bad. For once in my life, I was in perfect control of myself. I was only working to save Suzumiya, without any outside interference.

This world seemed to be enhancing my natural physical abilities by severalfold. Something had been cut loose from me.

As if I had been restrained by an archaic support for years, and suddenly it was taken away. As if pure energy was running through my body, compensating for my years of weakness.

I felt the corners of my mouth turn upwards. In Suzumiya's ideal world, I was in perfect health.

The giant raised a hand to attack me, and I exploded from the wall of the building, torquing my body to fly further up, eventually grabbing hold of its thumb. In an instant, I flipped myself up and severed the digit without even thinking. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I ran along its arm, slicing along the lines while deftly avoiding the assault the giant was providing with the other arm.

I was at the shoulder, then. As the arm fell to the ground, the giant roared soundlessly in pain and clutched at the wound with its one hand.

This was my opportunity.

I jumped onto his other arm, employing the same technique as before to cripple it. Only this time, he couldn't retaliate. The remainder of his arm suddenly convulsed and I was thrown up into the air. Panic suddenly surged through me. I needed to find a way to end this during free-fall, or the giant would smash me into the ground.

I concentrated hard with my eyes. In this world, there was no strain. I had perfect control, as if it was death who was frightened of me rather than the other way around.

There.

A singular point made itself known to me on the top of the giant's head. This was its 'existence.' I threw the Nanatsu-yoru down as hard as I could.

It disappeared into its head.

The giant seemed to scream in agony and I caught the edge of a tall building as it tumbled to the ground, no longer having the means to live.

My fingers couldn't keep their grip. Did Suzumiya actually want me to die now? My question was apparently answered as I slipped and fell from five stories up.

_No._

Some unknown force took hold of my arm, and in the instant before I impacted the street I stabbed its point of 'existence,' the small explosion buffeting me non-lethally onto solid earth.

I just sat there for a while, panting. My eyesight was so blurry I couldn't make anything out in front of me. I wiped the blood away and forced myself to stand. My knees gave out and I stopped trying.

Was that it? After my victory, did Suzumiya stop compensating for my weakness? I noticed lines from seemingly nowhere reaching out to me during the fight, carrying the vague aura of Suzumiya. One support had been removed for another, and now I was left with none at all.

Suzumiya was still here, and she was the only one who could fix all of this.

"Kyon, that was amazing!" She looked upon my fragile form as if I was some sort of superhero who had saved her from a dastardly villain. My burning eyes gave me the opposite impression of myself.

"Bring...bring us back..." I gasped that out in spite of my lungs feeling as if they were about to collapse.

"But, why Kyon? Why would you want to go back to that boring world? I'm having fun right now."

Fun? FUN?

"The...SOS Brigade. What about them?"

"That doesn't matter anymore. After all, this is too fun. We don't need to look for anything mysterious now." From the look on her face you'd never be able to tell I was probably critically injured.

Snow White...

An image of Nagato's joyful face entered my mind and refused to leave. No. I wouldn't.

I shakily got onto my feet. Three blue giants were zeroing in our position, and I didn't think I could take them out in this state. I grasped my knife firmly in my hand.

"What is it?"

"Shut up. Shut up, and look at the world around you!"

She gazed upon the hellish wasteland. The pale imitation of the real world, complete with violent perversions of the human form. "I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I think it'll all work out in the end."

I shook my head furiously. "What about our friends, Suzumiya? What about Sempai, and Koizumi, and Nagato?"

"I'm sure we'll see them here later..."

"NO! I want to see _our_ friends! I want to see the people that _I_ got to know. Not your _perception_ of our friends!

"I want to see Sempai laughing and making tea in the clubroom!"

I focused harder than I've ever focused in my life. My vision left me, save for the lines of death that I so hated.

The lines of death that governed this world.

"I want to see Koizumi and that damn smile of his!"

I cut the lines that foretold this world's death faster than Suzumiya's eyes could see. I was perfectly focused. I slashed until a vortex began to swirl in response. I could hear the earth itself begin to break apart. I could hear magma roar beneath my feet. I could hear Suzumiya's world cry out for respite, but I wouldn't listen to the whims of a false god.

My life was fading fast. I lashed out against the restricting shackle that was my body. I could feel something within me burn out, reducing my total thoughts one by one as if I was being forcibly erased.

"And as for Nagato."

Time seemed to stop as I gazed into the empty void. There, I could see the final point.

The point which marked the 'existence' of this world.

"I just really want to see her again."

I pierced the point.

Everything went white.

* * *

"This is a most unusual turn of events." 

"How did he do it?"

"I do not know. The mirror world created by Suzumiya Haruhi simply ceased to exist."

"That is indeed quite troubling."

"That's all nice and well, you two..." I smirked. They turned to look at me. They had probably thought that I wasn't awake yet. "But it isn't nice to talk about someone when they're right there."

"Tohno Shiki." They knew that name. How grand. "You have been judged by the Burial Agency to be a blight upon this world. Pray now, for the Powers that Be have judged it time for your execution."

I took a better look at them. One was entirely cloaked in some sort of robe. I noticed with a smile the priest collar around his neck. He moved forward and unclasped my feet. The other one was a woman. Probably French. She was dressed in a nun habit, though she grasped short swords in each hand.

"Oi." I said this casually. "You. The chick. We're still in my town, aren't we?"

"How did you-"

"A few of my friends spotted you a while back ago. You're not much of a secret society." I yawned. "Anyway, be a sport and let me go. It'll be better for you in the long run."

The girl looked absolutely indignant. I had to hold back a bark of laughter. "How dare you! You can't even move your hands."

"What's your point?"

And then I did a backflip and kicked her in the jaw. She went flying and I grinned as the man charged at me with one of those short swords. I didn't move, instead choosing to block with my bindings.

Crack.

I flicked my knife out and cut every line of death on his body. Stupid, stupid guy. Should have just let me go.

I would've just stabbed a point then. No need to suffer.

I turned to the girl, who was nursing her chin and looking at the remains of her partner in shock. "Tha-that was-"

"Some retard who thought that metal doesn't break when faced with magical swords." I gave her a heart winning smile. "Now, be a good girl and tell me the way out of here. I promise you'll have a quick death."

"Death?" She looked at me incredulously. As if the concept of dying was some sort of great joke to her. Then she laughed. She laughed so hard I was almost worried she was going to die before I could take a crack at her. "I can't die."

"Feisty." A grin ran its way along my face. I loved the ones that thought they were immortal. It was so satisfying to see the looks on their faces when their arms came off. "Babe, come over here and let me cut your jugular. We'll see who can't die then."

Her eyes hardened. No more fun times? Alright then.

"So, what's your name?"

"Executioner Ciel."

"Shame, that isn't nearly as ubiquitous as Mother Theresa."

I killed about a dozen of those short swords thrown at my head. I noticed that she was running along the walls, which would usually be impressive.

If I weren't so much better at it.

I joined her on the wall, smiling amiably. "Great day for a run, eh?"

"SHUT UP!"

I flipped off the wall on its point. It fell apart in a shower of gravel, with Ciel still on it. I made my way towards her, making sure to lean back a bit more.

Women love a confident man.

"You can't die, eh?" I fingered the edge of the blade my dad left me. "I know about this really great industry you'd make a killing in. It's called snuff, and-"

She charged out from beneath the gravel and assaulted me with assorted punches and kicks. I dodged each one with no problem, bobbing and weaving as her limbs flailed at me in what I considered to be slow motion. Time itself seemed to bend to my will. Everyone's so slow nowadays.

I blame television.

"Well, you're a great girl and all but this isn't working out." A punch flew over my head. "I think it's time to cut you loose."

And with that, I suddenly dropped down and cut the line dividing her legs from her upper body. It all hit the floor with a wet 'squelch.' Tears were streaming down her face.

"Tell me, has that ever happened before? No? How about this?" I severed both her arms. She didn't really need them, anyway. I taught her that lesson like five minutes ago.

"T-tohno Shiki-"

"_Nanaya_ Shiki. Christ, woman-" I looked down at her head and torso. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're Christian right? That was uncalled for. Ha ha ha." I kicked her head so hard that her upper body went flying into the wall. Her scream was like delicious candy. Blood practically covered the room, though I noticed with great satisfaction that none of it had landed upon me.

"Anyway, you haven't been able to die 'til now because nobody's really shown you what it is to kill."

I extended my arms out in a grand gesture. "Allow me to demonstrate."

I plunged my knife into her left breast, where her largest point was. She looked up at me in disbelief before her eyes went completely blank. Her body parts began to fade away. Curious. She had taken longer than usual to disappear.

I went up to the door and sliced the lock in half. I strode out, eagerly anticipating what was waiting for me upstairs.

* * *

I opened my eyes. The familiar sound of my alarm clock had pulled me from my slumber, and for that I forever hated it. I groped around for my glasses then placed them on my face. I looked down at my hands. 

"Ah!"

They were stained crimson. My eyes darted around the room. Keeping noise to a minimum, I sneaked my way into the bathroom down the hall. I washed my hands, and the red washed away as if it were never there at all.

It was easily chalked up to Suzumiya's dream world. I didn't think it was blood. Blood didn't dry that shade of red.

_Not the kind you're used to, at least._

What was that? I thought I heard a faint whisper on the wind.

But I was indoors, and regardless it was a perfect day outside.

My head hurt. Did I really want to go to school? Thoughts of the previous night ran through my mind. I could not dismiss that as a dream. Even if Suzumiya would, I knew that those events had actually happened. That the world as I knew it was that close to destruction.

And ironically, I saved it.

I always thought that my eyes were a curse. I've never thought of them in terms such as 'gift' and 'blessing,' but I began to rethink my position.

No.

No matter what, it was still wrong to kill. That world of Suzumiya's wouldn't have been the same, but it would have been a unique world with unique people.

Was it okay to keep her paradise from coming to fruition?

I thought of Nagato, and it felt as if a burden in my heart had been lifted. Yes. It was okay, if it meant keeping Nagato from being hurt anymore.

I returned to my room and threw on the clothes that I had been wearing last night at Suzumiya's whim. They showed no signs of the damage they had sustained being thrown about and torn by gravel.

I always felt that this uniform wasn't right. I wanted one of those gakuran back, like I used to have at my old school. They felt right. I wasn't sure what brought about that train of thought, but I thought of myself in a blazer side to side with my younger self in a gakuran.

It was difficult to reconcile the images. The latter was just so much more natural.

I opened the drawer that I had been keeping the Nanatsu-yoru in. I knew my aunt would not mind, for I was old enough to responsibly carry a blade. Yet, I could not bring myself to show her it. I thought about why I had been taking it to school every day. Did I expect another situation to arise where I would need it?

I couldn't lie to myself. Yes. I did.

It was a familiar weight sitting in my pocket. I wasn't sure whether the familiarity was a good thing or a bad thing. Nonetheless, I collected all my other effects and picked up my bag.

Time to get the day started.

* * *

"I finished _Hyperion._" 

Nagato looked up at me, clearly confused. "What?"

"_Hyperion. _You lent it to me a while back when we first met, remember? Thanks. I liked it."

I didn't want to stress Nagato over something she couldn't remember, but the book was a constant reminder of how I had treated her back when I had first met her. It was a great tale, but I needed it out of my room if I wanted to have some piece of mind.

"Oh...oh yes, I remember now. I was wondering where that went." She smiled and took the book from me. "Thank you." She put it back in the clubroom's bookshelf.

"You lent it to me. I should be thanking you." Actually I should be on my knees begging for your forgiveness but for the sake of your blood pressure I won't.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye and reacted immediately. I pulled my glasses from my face and took the ruler lying on the clubroom's table. With two easy swings, the lines heading towards Nagato and I ceased to exist and I judged it safe to replace my glasses.

That was when I noticed Nagato looking at me strangely. Then, I realized what I had done and went white. We stared at each other for what could have been the entire lunch break. Her eyes were widened. She opened her mouth to speak first.

"Do, you, um, take martial arts Shiki?" She asked this hesitantly. I didn't blame her, for I must have looked quite the fool swinging at the air with a ruler like that.

Vague memories of my early childhood surfaced and I actually remembered having some sort of martial arts instruction. It wouldn't be a lie to respond in the affirmative, right? "Um, I used to. Martial discipline and all that. Thought I saw something."

Silence again. Then, she started giggling, softly at first, before it became a full blown laugh and she was clutching her stomach with tears in her eyes. The sight nearly gave me a seizure. Against my will, I began to laugh too. Soon, we were clutching onto each other for dear life, trying to make the humor somehow go away.

The door opened, and Koizumi strode in before freezing in his tracks at the sight of us hanging on to each other and laughing like maniacs. For his sake, we stopped and just smiled at each other, completely out of breath. Her faced was flushed and she closed a single eye cutely as I wiped her tears away.

This was totally worth destroying a universe for.

"Am...am I interrupting something?" Koizumi looked dumbstruck. As if the sight before him was completely impossible. "Kyon, what are you-"

"No, no it's okay." I beckoned him in. "What do you need?"

"Well..." He looked down at his broken arm, trying to keep the smile on his face. I got the message instantly. "Regardless, I must be grateful to you."

"For what, Koizumi?"

"The world remains unchanged. Miss Suzumiya is still here. You've done well."

He paused. I knew he wasn't finished yet.

"I cannot, however, advocate your relationship with Miss Nagato. It is something that the Agency as a whole believes to be foolhardy."

Nagato looked confused, but spoke up anyway. "Koizumi, Shiki and I aren't-"

"Your face is red and it appears that you are on a first name basis with him, Miss Nagato." His eyes sharpened and I saw hints of the personality he was so adamant Suzumiya would detest. "Do not deny the agenda of your-"

"Koizumi. Your business is with me, not her."

"Incorrect, Kyon. This a matter between the Agency and the entirety of the Data Integration Thought Entity." Koizumi was utterly serious. "Miss Nagato here is the proxy by which we'll communicate."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about..." Nagato averted her eyes and stared at a spot on the ground. She was frightened.

"Absurd." Koizumi rounded upon her. "Even with reprogramming, an Interface is incapable breaking ties with the Thought Entity. For it is that which makes them what they are."

An image of my knife came to me, along with a grinning face that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Kyon, Miss Suzumiya relies on you as the one person she wished to be with in her new world. You cannot break this trust. She cannot be allowed to see you with another woman, lest this entire incident repeat. Except this time, you may not be given forewarning."

"I'm not involved with Suzumiya that way." I thought of the impossible stunts I had performed back in Suzumiya's world in my attempt to escape. I chalked it up to her design.

"Really, now?" Koizumi's plastic grin was back, but there was an element of genuine mockery lying somewhere in the subtext of his words. "I am aware of the task you had to perform to succeed in convincing Suzumiya to shatter that world Kyon. I am aware of 'Snow White.'"

I stifled a gasp. Sempai and Koizumi were under the impression that I had kissed Suzumiya in order to escape that world. They did not know of my eyes, and were not there to see what had actually happened.

That meant that future Sempai had informed Koizumi of the 'Snow White' clue. Which meant that the only reason that she had known about it in the first place was because Koizumi had told the present Sempai, who would grow up and tell me. It was misinformation in the form of a time paradox.

My secret was being kept because of a time paradox.

I tried to ignore that as best as I could. "Koizumi, ignore that. It was just a kiss."

"Yes, but is quite possible that Suzumiya had interpreted it as something more." Koizumi began to wave his hands around. I hated it when he did that. "This is not a game. This is for the greater good."

"Whatever, Koizumi." I walked out of the classroom with Nagato at my heels. I knew that Koizumi wouldn't follow me for fear of any physical retribution. It was ridiculously ironic given my anemia.

"Shiki, what did he mean by all that?" Nagato asked an innocent question begging some not so innocent answers.

I took a deep breath. "Would you believe me if I told you that Suzumiya was God? That she had the power to change the anything at will?" The look in Nagato's eyes told me she probably didn't. "Well, I don't either. Koizumi's part of a religious cult that believes it, though."

It wasn't entirely a lie. Suzumiya couldn't change _anything_ at will and I was pretty sure that Koizumi's Agency could be considered a cult. More importantly, I didn't want Nagato to find out about her origins.

If someone told me out of the blue that I was some sort of alien Humanoid Interface who had been cut from her master by someone with magical eyes I would probably call the police. Nagato, though, might actually believe me and return to the darker side of the SOS Brigade.

The thought of Nagato before I had severed those lines suddenly returning and feeling no affection for me at all was something that I couldn't bear. I didn't want her to go back to being like that.

It was selfish of me. Entirely selfish. But what kind of existence is that? To be one part of a collective of minds? To be a whole, rather than an individual?

"He believes the same things that Suzumiya does. In aliens, time travelers, and espers." I took a breath. "He believes that you are an alien sent by a Data Entity to stabilize Suzumiya. He believes that Sempai is a time traveler sent to observe her. And he believes himself to be an Esper chosen by Suzumiya herself.

"As for me...well, he believes that I am the key to her. That I am the only one that can actively control Suzumiya. And to do that, I can get close to no one but her."

"So, you believed him? You kissed Miss Suzumiya?" Her voice was trembling. I took her into a guilty embrace.

"No." I whispered that into her ear. For once, I could be completely honest with her. "I didn't kiss her. But he has to believe I did, or things might get out of control in the SOS Brigade.

"Nagato. If he questions you about anything, play along. You're Nagato Yuki, a Humanoid Interface sent by the Data Integration Thought Entity to observe Suzumiya Haruhi to him. I don't want to think about what he'd do to you if he realized you weren't."

She buried her face into my shirt and I rubbed her back as consolingly as I could. It was all a lie. A facade.

But I was happy with it. Nagato was safe, and the others were under control.

In another time, I never would have done something like this. In my confusion, I had created an utter mess of things. I needed to maintain a constant balance, or I would have no choice.

To ensure the safety of Nagato Yuki, I would have to kill the powers binded to Suzumiya Haruhi.

And what that would do to her, I had no clue.

* * *

We ran into Sempai, who immediately hugged me and then thanked me in a manner a little too similar to Koizumi. Thankfully, Nagato didn't question it. I think she had surmised that Sempai also had to 'play along.' 

What has Tohno Shiki done? What has this poor fool done to selfishly protect the secret lying beneath his glasses? As I sat in the final class of the day, that was all I could think about. I hated lying. I didn't want to lie anymore.

A/N- My experimentation with directly adapting novel scenes. I don't like how it turned out, and will try to refrain from doing so in the future. The disappearance of all the Humanoid Interfaces aside from Kimidori Emiri is going to make for quite a few lulls in action until I can introduce her since I can't think of a way to bring the Agency (despite Shiki breaking Koizumi's arm, but he had an excuse) or Mikuru's buddies into the fray.


	3. Origami

Disclaimer: I own neither series.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway and I felt an immense fear overtake my body. I kept my mouth shut; if I made a single sound I would be dead in an instant.

She wasn't good enough. She would never sense me. Even after retreating from the True Ancestor princess, I had more than enough power left to hide my presence from her.

She stopped, right in front of the classroom. Had I made a mistake?

...No. The footsteps softly moved moved away. She had left.

I grinned. I took my knife in my hand and stalked out of the classroom. I was the superior fighter. It didn't matter what kind of Inversion Impulse she had.

For through my eyes, there was nothing.

Her presence was too loud, too inviting. I could sense the massive amount of heat radiating from her body. It was intoxicating. I wanted her.

God, I wanted her.

But she was trying to kill me now. Above all, my priority is living.

...There!

She had her back to me in the hallway, red hair flaring out like a beacon. My palms were sweating. My mouth was dry.

To taste her blood...

There would be no greater pleasure. I felt myself begin to spasm, and stopped my body with but a thought. This useless flesh was a hindrance to me. The only thing that I needed from it were these eyes.

These eyes, that can see death.

A white line was drawn invitingly over her slender neck. I was salivating now. It wouldn't do to give away my position, would it? I had to act quickly. Time was of the essence if I was to continue living.

She continued walking away. Her footsteps further obscured my presence, and I ghosted down the hall after her.

She didn't notice me...

I was close...

I could smell her hair...

My legs moved faster than they ever had in my life and I closed the distance between my knife and her neck in less than a second. She had turned around somewhat; I could see the shock written all over her face. Her neck had given way, and her head dropped to the ground, its eyes never leaving mine.

I snatched it up by the hair and stared Akiha's blank eyes down with as much intensity as I could. Would she never blink? I laughed and caught her bloody lips with mine.

Saccharine sweet.

I tore the flesh from her skull and feasted hungrily. I had never felt such-- such passion!

She was _mine_ now. That pretender would never have her.

"Oh dear sister..." I cooed to her headless body, undoing the buttons on her shirt. "You've finally returned to me..."

* * *

"Auuu...AUUUUUGHH!!" 

I awoke with a scream, clutching at my head in agony. What was wrong with me? Who was that?! I would never--

What sort of joke was my mind playing on me?

I recalled the taste of human flesh on my lips and retched onto my bedroom floor. It didn't seem to stop. I was shaky all over. Something was wrong with me.

I could feel heat suddenly engulf my body, burning me from the inside out. My actions in the dream-- no, not mine, couldn't be mine-- stop, no!

Then it was over. My mind seemed to shut itself off and I went limp. I bonelessly collapsed to the ground. In the distance, I could hear my aunt and Miyako call out to me. Arms wrapped softly around me and I fell back into the dark abyss of dreams.

* * *

Energy. Energy flowed through me like it had over five years ago. I couldn't remember ever feeling this good; the sensation was enough to make me want to scream in ecstasy. 

Akiha. Akiha. Akiha.

I had never felt such a sense of fulfillment.

The feel of her warm flesh against mine, the blood resting at the bottom of my stomach...

"Hahaha...haha..." My fingers spasmed violently as I stared at the lines crisscrossing my digits. They were so clear, as if I was seeing them for the first time. This was entirely new.

I had been reborn.

That thought in mind, I jumped from a third story window, feeling no pain at all as my feet impacted the ground. This new energy...was this what Akiha had left me? When she had departed this world, did her life force flow into me?

Dear sister, even in death you are so radiantly perfect--

_Ba-dum._

I felt a sudden pulling at my heartstrings as the power left my body, flowing from me into some strange connection. Everything seemed to darken...

Sights, sounds, color. Nothing was as brilliant anymore. The pull loosened and I was left in poor condition.

Who had dared to do this? I screamed and tore at my chest, the pain of flayed flesh dulling the agony of what I had lost.

It was still there. Some of Akiha was still inside me, a constant reminder of what I had done tonight.

But the rest--

HIM.

I snarled and narrowed my eyes. Did Akiha favor _him_, even now?

...Then, I know what I must do. I will find him.

I will find him, and take back what is rightfully mine.

"Do you hear that, you fake?" I whispered. "I'm going to find you. I'm going to find you and kill you."

Akiha is mine and mine alone.

* * *

The soft sounds of a heart rate monitor roused me from my slumber. My head was pounding, but I felt oddly good. Shaky, but good. 

...What had happened that night? Was that just a dream, or had I awoken and really done that? Was I capable of doing that?

No.

I had woken up in bed. That was just a dream.

But what if that was memory? What if I had been recalling something?

...Impossible. I didn't recognize my surroundings in the dream. I had never been to the school that had occurred in. Macabre thoughts made their way to the forefront of my mind and I shook them away forcefully. It was just a dream. I would forget about it, and everything would be alright.

Glasses. Where were my glasses?

I saw something shining out of the corner of my eye and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the familiar item lying on a bedside table. I slipped them on and relaxed as the world came back to normal. Perfectly clear vision, untainted by the touch of hell.

It was almost too clear, actually. I couldn't ever remember my eyesight being this good. I experimentally flexed a hand. I felt an ease controlling my body that was unfamiliar to me. I figured I had just passed out from mental exhaustion, but my body shouldn't be in such good condition after lying in a hospital bed for so long. My anemia had probably played a factor in the ordeal.

The door opened and my aunt and Miyako came in, worrying over me as they held onto my arm. I smiled and patted Miyako on the head, assuring both of them that I was fine. They didn't have to worry.

"But Kyon, you threw up on the ground and passed out, I was--"

"It's fine, Miyako. Probably just an anemia attack."

My aunt bit her lip. "But in the middle of the night, Shiki?"

"Ha ha, I didn't have a very good dream. My heart probably raced a bit too fast, that's all."

They were silent. I was trying to make them feel better, but I wasn't doing a very good job. Waking up from a dream only to fall unconscious wasn't exactly a common occurrence. Even I could tell that. I sat up against the bedpost and tried to look casual. "So, what's the deal? Can I leave the hospital now?"

"Shiki, the doctor wants to examine you before you're discharged."

My face soured. I was used to the constant medical attention but it wasn't as if I liked it. "Alright. When can they start?"

"Right now." A doctor swept his way into the room, carrying with him a clipboard and some medical instruments. He placed them down and took a seat at my bedside. "How are you feeling, Shiki?

"Pretty good, actually." It wasn't a lie. I was feeling better than I had in years.

"Good, good." He mumbled and then scribbled something down into the clipboard. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't believe me.

The examination lasted almost an entire hour. They practically put me through a gauntlet of assorted tests, some familiar others not. I had no trouble performing any of them. My body went through the motions with an almost practiced ease.

The doctor looked down at the results recorded on his clipboard, his eyes slightly wide in surprise. "I must say Mr. Tohno, this is unprecedented. You are aware of the accident that you were in, giving you your anemia?"

"Yeah." I fingered the scar visible on my chest.

"We hadn't thought it possible, but you seem to be recovering from the trauma your body had experienced then. I can't guarantee the disappearance of the phantom pains, but your body is much stronger than it was last time you had a checkup." He took a breath. "The extent of your injuries back then were such that it is remarkable that you are still alive today, Mr. Tohno. The fact that you are getting stronger is a testament to human will."

I stared back at him, dumbfounded. What could have done this? Were my eyes of death beginning to weaken?

Never in my life had I ever thought that this would happen. Possibilities, worries, excitement-- I experienced it all in the blink of an eye. I signed a few forms and left with my aunt and Miyako.

Was this connected to the dream? I prayed that it wasn't so.

* * *

"Shiki, are you sure you want to go to school today?" 

"Yeah, auntie. Don't worry about me. You know what the doctor said."

"Yes, I know, it's just..." She suddenly came up and embraced me. I awkwardly returned the hug, not quite feeling comfortable with the contact. What had brought this on? "I've been so worried for years, dear, then suddenly hearing that you were getting better, I just--"

I grinned and pulled away, patting her on the shoulder. "This is a good thing, auntie."

"Yes, you're right Shiki." She wiped a few tears away. "Have fun at school."

"I will, auntie!"

I rushed out of the door with my bag in hand. A new feeling of life surged within me and I felt as if I had found something missing for years. Everything was so much clearer. My senses had been increased to the point where it was hard to associate today with yesterday. My body was exceedingly comfortable. It felt as though a weight had been taken off my shoulders.

I noticed disappointedly that Nagato hadn't come over to walk with me to school today. I let out a sigh and shrugged. I guess she had her own things to do.

The trip to school was uneventful and I yawned as I sat myself in the seat in front of Suzumiya. She was pretty quiet. I supposed that she didn't want to talk about the dream. However, I needed to confirm something. "Suzumiya, are you alright?"

"Mm?" She raised her head to look at me. "Of course I am! What made you think otherwise?"

I stared at her. I think my gaze made her feel uncomfortable because she turned away. Confusion was the word of the day. I didn't think she would back down to me. "Um, you just seemed a little down. That's all."

"Well I'm not, okay!"

I grinned sheepishly and backed off. So she had interpreted it as a bad dream. That's fine. I could think of about four or five worse scenarios than that.

I sat alone at lunch in the Literary Club clubroom, wondering where in the world Nagato was. She didn't live with anyone so I doubted that she had plans. Was she sick? I would need to go visit after school.

The door swung open. I turned my head up.

Who was this? A refined young girl with a head of green hair strode into the room with a regal air about her. She was perfectly calm. "Is this the SOS Brigade clubroom?"

"Um, I guess." This was still technically the Literary Club, but whatever.

"Please come with me."

She turned around and started walking. What did she want? I followed her for a good two minutes before we came to a halt before a classroom door. She opened it and came in.

I followed her inside. It was perfectly empty. "Hey, what--"

I was blown back into a wall by the force of a hand crashing into my face. I grunted as my spine throbbed in agony from the impact. I hunched over and raised my eyes.

No. Not again.

My blood ran hot as I stared into the eyes of the young girl who had assaulted me. My breath hitched and I knew that it was happening all over again.

_Kill._

I reached into my pocket for my knife, pausing briefly when I realized that it wasn't in there. Where had it gone? "Crap."

My pulse was out of control and I knew it would be difficult to keep a steady hand. I reached up to pull my glasses from my face.

Wait.

I pulled again, harder. The glasses.

They wouldn't come off.

"What have you done?" A low growl came from the depths of my throat and I knew that I was losing myself. I was at a terrible disadvantage. I could die.

She gazed at me impassively, reminding me of the old Nagato. It only served to make me angrier. "The Data Integration Thought Entity is not aware of the concept of your ability to delete data, but it is aware of your methods. We have judged that the factor that allows you to perform your deletions is entirely dependent on two conditions.

"One: Your glasses must be removed in order to realize your power.

"Two: You require physical contact with the subject of your choosing.

"A simple change in data has bonded your glasses to you, making the fulfillment of condition one impossible. The Data Integration Thought Entity is currently internally debating over theories regarding your glasses. The prevalent theory is that your ability is dependent on your eyes, and that the glasses act as a neutralizer for your power. Nothing in the data for your eyeglasses supports this theory, but then nothing in your data makes reference to your ability. We are acting based completely on conjecture and subjective evidence, but chances are high that we are correct.

"We have also observed that you have made use of a certain physical weapon in all of your battles with our Interfaces. By all means, such a weapon should not be able to permanently harm an Interface, let alone completely separate an Interface from the main body. However, I have taken the liberty of confiscating such a weapon in the event that it is indeed crucial to triggering your ability. It is currently on my person and I plan to make use of it if it indeed bestows upon the user such an ability.

"The odds are stacked in favor of my victory, Tohno Shiki. Do you yield?"

I looked up at her in disbelief. Of course. Actively taking on Nagato and Asakura like that... the rest of the Data Integration Thought Entity wouldn't leave me alone. I was to be executed. A man on death row.

...But then, I've always known that. What makes now any different?

Even with my glasses framed firmly on my face, my blood screamed at me to kill this nonhuman.

This _aberration._

"B-back off, Kimidori." I took a step forward, holding out a hand in warning. It was shaking uncontrollably. "I-I don't want to kill you."

"That is irrelevant." She got within my striking distance, clearly unafraid of whatever I could do to her. Without the eyes I was an unarmed, scrawny fourteen year old boy. I could see why she wasn't frightened. "The Data Integration Thought Entity desires your destruction. Therefore, it will be so."

I tried again in vain to remove my glasses. They hadn't changed at all, but it was simply impossible to move them from their spot on my face.

She was on me in a flash. The Nanatsu-yoru was clutched in her hand. Nearly faster than I could follow, she thrust her arm forward.

Drip.

Blood spilled forth from the stab wound in my stomach. I stared down disbelievingly. I didn't think that it would hurt so much. I screamed in agony as the knife was withdrawn, aggravating my flesh further. My heart was beating rapidly, further wasting blood.

Being stabbed by the Nanatsu-yoru was some kind of irony, I suppose.

She made for a follow up attack at my head. I tried to dodge but screamed in agony as the fruit knife went through my shoulder, bone and all. She twisted her hand.

Fragments. That grinding noise I heard was the sound of bone fragments being wrested forth from their proper place. It was so grating that it nearly drowned out my cries of pain.

It didn't. Not quite.

"Ah...argh..." She had relented. I laid prostrate before her, trying to concentrate on her features through the haze. My body protested loudly as I scrambled onto my feet. Just standing was taking its toll on me. "You...aren't you afraid someone will come?"

"I have separated this classroom from the main data plane. We are currently in a closed space, beyond the conventional reach of nearly all other known entities." She motioned at the space around her. It was a mess of random imagery. I hadn't even noticed the change. "There is almost no risk of intrusion. You are free to make all the noise you wish."

Was that sadism I detected? No. I was imagining it.

I lost control of my legs and stumbled onto my bottom. The disturbance served to heighten the severity of my wounds and I felt my consciousness slipping faster.

The flow of my blood against my body.

_Hot._

_So hot. It burns._

_Stop the pain._

_Do not die._

_Kill her._

I furrowed my brow and closed my eyes in reaction to my own thoughts.

But.

...It was right.

To end this, I had to kill Kimidori. That was the solution that was the least likely to end in my death.

My eyes shot open and I stared up at her eyes. Unnatural eyes. They gave the outward impression of innocent humanity, but I had enough experience to look deeper. To see further.

Beyond that beautiful screen there lay nothing.

I blocked out the pain. My body became detached from my mind.

My left arm had been disabled, with no chance of recovering use due to skeletal injuries. That didn't really matter as long as I still retained the use of my right arm, as my left arm wouldn't have been accurate enough in combat to fight someone like Kimidori. At the worst, I had lost some balance and mobility.

Both wounds I had sustained were rapidly leaking blood and the overall state of my body was deteriorating with each moment I waited.

My legs weren't receiving enough oxygen due to lack of blood flow. That was okay because my agility mattered little. Kimidori was much faster than me regardless of my health.

So, only one option remained. There was only one thing I could do that would end this fight in my favor.

I glanced coolly up at Kimidori, who seemed to be thinking about something. "Strange. Your heart rate has just slowed immensely. Isn't it a natural biological response for human beings to go into shock after sustaining such injuries?"

I didn't say anything. Words weren't necessary. Her head was cocked to one side in a parody of human mannerisms. "I suppose it matters little. Very well then." She raised my knife above her head. "Farewell, Tohno Shiki."

Her arm fell at an inhuman rate, the knife plunging deep into my chest. I felt it pierce through muscle, bone, and tissue before finally embedding itself in my heart.

Blood dripped down the edges of my mouth as I gave my assailant a sickly smile.

My hand was embedded in her stomach, where her point of 'existence' was. The two lenses of my glasses fell to the ground with an audible 'click.'

She gave me a single dumbfounded stare before fading into oblivion.

I collected the lenses from the ground and shoved them into my pocket. Immediately after the movement, the world went out of focus and I toppled to the ground with a thud. Blood pooled around me and I smiled even as I passed away.

* * *

The sun nearly blinded me when I had seen fit to open my eyes. 

I was lying on a hospital bed for the second time in two days, except that there were far more instruments hooked up to me. I risked a glance at my heart rate monitor. The reading was quite low. With a sigh, I sunk back into the bed and grinned up at the ceiling.

It had worked just as planned.

By letting Kimidori have a lethal strike, I had trapped her while I went cross eyed and pierced the point of 'existence' on my glasses frame. They had subsequently ceased to exist and I was free to plunge my hand into her point of 'existence.'

The only flaw with my plan was the inevitability of dying immediately afterwards. Back then, I had put my faith in Suzumiya wanting my company enough to manipulate death into leaving me be. It was stupid. It was reckless. It was utterly convoluted.

It had _worked._

I gave a hoarse laugh, startling the nurse who had come in to check on me. I blushed and smiled at her. She returned the smile uneasily and left the room, probably to go tell the doctor that I was awake.

A jovial and neatly groomed North High freshman entered instead and I had to do a double take.

Koizumi?

"Hello, Kyon." He went over to my bedside and placed a hand on my sheets. "It's good to see that you're alive. You gave us all quite the scare."

"Wait, where am I?"

He gave a light laugh and gestured to the room we were in. "This is a hospital managed by the Agency I work for. I guessed that your family wouldn't be able to afford the intensive care that you needed in order to stay alive. The Agency was able to provide state-of-the-art equipment, unavailable to the general public, in order to keep you living."

"...Why?"

"God's in her heaven Kyon." He nodded towards the door. "Actually, she's in the waiting room. But as long as you're alive I think she'll be satisfied. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't made it. In fact, I'm almost entirely certain that it was Miss Suzumiya's powers that stabilized you during surgery."

"What about my glasses?"

"My, Kyon. You are full of questions today." He shrugged exaggeratedly and took a pair of lenses out of his pocket. "Here you are. I don't know what happened to the frame, but these are in pristine condition."

I noticed with a start that I had been staring at the lines with no discomfort for nearly five minutes. The soft sound of an IV drip made me groan. Painkillers. "Hey, Koizumi. Do you think you could go and get another frame for those? I'll pay you back."

"These?" He looked curiously at the little pieces of glass lying in his hand. "Are these not just for show, Kyon?"

"They are, but they're kind of important to me. A friend of mine gave them to me as a present."

He nodded. "I see. I'll go drop by a shop and see what I can do." He sat down in a nearby chair and crossed his legs and arms, looking intently at me. "Now, if you would like to explain exactly what happened?"

"It wasn't--"

"Wasn't much?" He gave a sardonic grin. "Kyon, you were stabbed in the heart. Even ignoring the other two stab wounds-- one of which nearly shattered all the bones in your shoulder-- that is quite a big deal."

"Well, okay then." I took a breath. Now, what was the proper way to explain this? "Well, someone told me to go and follow them somewhere."

"And you complied? You didn't ask what they wanted?"

"They mentioned the SOS Brigade. That was all I needed to know."

"Ah, I see." Koizumi's chuckle sounded rather bitter. I laid back down and closed my eyes, waiting for him to continue. "Go on."

"Anyway, they assaulted me with a knife the moment I followed them into the class."

"Did you see their face?"

"Yeah. It was a girl with green hair." Green hair was a distinguishing feature, but I had never seen Kimidori before in my life. Chances were that she had appeared at the school on that one occasion just to take me out. "She was dressed in a uniform, but I don't think she was really a student."

"If she was, we would have caught her already Kyon." He drooped his head and sighed, an action that was decidedly out of character with his chosen persona. "As it is, we couldn't find any evidence aside from the knife that was buried in your chest."

--The knife.

"Where's the knife now?"

He looked at me strangely. Thinking back, it was an extremely odd thing for a victim to ask about the whereabouts of the weapon used to assault him. "It's currently being used in the investigation. I don't know exactly where it is, but I would guess the Agency has it stored in an evidence vault."

"I see." I felt a pang of disappointment at losing the Nanatsu-yoru, though I couldn't guess why.

"Is there anything else Kyon?"

"Not really. I was stabbed three times and then it was over."

"Alright then." His smile turned warm. Or lukewarm, depending on how you interpreted it. "Then, there's someone who's been waiting a long time to see you Kyon."

He stood up and disappeared out the door. After a few seconds, I heard the distant sound of something crashing, followed by heavy footfalls.

Crash.

The door swung open, slamming against the wall. The staff I could see out in the hallway didn't look pleased.

"Suzumiya. Yo."

"Yo? _Yo?_"

"Yo."

She marched up to me and grabbed the front of my hospital gown, raising me up a few centimeters. I pointed solemnly at the various instruments keeping me stable and she blushed and let me go. She sank down into the same seat Koizumi had been using, a scowl placed firmly on her face. "You're not taking this seriously enough Kyon. You almost died."

Oh, believe me. I knew exactly what it meant to take death seriously. "Well, it's not too bad."

"What, dying?"

"No, idiot." She clocked me on the head. The heart rate monitor seemed to fluctuate and she muttered a curt apology. "Being here. I'm pretty high right now."

"Wha-what? Are you serious?"

"No, no. I was just joking." Was I? I didn't know exactly what they were giving me and how much. Enough morphine could easily put me in a strange mindset. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about Suzumiya?"

"About you getting stabbed, of course!" She rolled her eyes. "No Kyon, I want to talk about the weather."

"I can't really tell. All these meds are making me numb."

She seemed to seethe for a moment before her eyes softened. "Kyon...please--"

"Alright, so basically someone called me out and stabbed me when I wasn't looking. They asked about the SOS Brigade so I thought maybe she was one of your friends Suzumiya."

She looked down. She seemed to be thinking.

The movement of the lines surrounding her were making me nervous. Several had jutted out through the wall in the direction of the school.

"How dare they."

"How dare they what?"

"How dare they assault a member of the SOS Brigade! Kyon, we need to get them back for this."

I gaped. I couldn't help it. It was fine when this girl wanted to go search for aliens, time travelers, and espers. Those were fine childhood fantasies and I suppose to a point she had succeeded. But now, she wanted to go search for a killer.

"Suzumiya. That's the police's job."

"No Kyon. It's our responsibility to catch whoever attacked you."

"Look, I'm glad you're concerned about me, but--"

"Concerned about you?" She huffed and turned her nose towards the ceiling. I think there was a term for this sort of behavior but it escaped me. "I'm not concerned about you. I just want people to know what happens when you mess with the SOS Brigade!"

I turned a critical eye in her direction. She visibly stiffened for some reason. "What are you going to do to her if you find her Suzumiya?"

"I--"

"Are you going to kill her?"

"Kyon-- what--"

I relaxed and closed my eyes. I needed some rest. "Never mind. Just...just think this through, okay? Don't do anything rash."

"Whatever." She got up and made to leave. As she stepped into the door frame she turned around and we made brief eye contact. Again, she seemed to shiver before righting herself and slamming the door shut.

Curious, I glanced at the window.

It was just my reflection. Only, its eyes were glowing a rather eerie shade of blue. The painkillers were probably doing more harm than good at this point.

I closed my eyes and laid back down. Even if I couldn't feel it, I had probably been frying my brain that entire time.

* * *

I awakened to find Koizumi standing over my bed, a pair of unfamiliar glasses gripped loosely in his hands. "Here. There's no need to pay me; think of this as a 'welcome back to the living' present, if you will." 

I grinned against my will and accepted the glasses. The frames he had picked out were the same basic style as my old ones, but with the advantage of being lighter and thinner. It was wiry, and didn't look too durable. Not very practical, but it did look a lot nicer then when Sensei had given it to me.

"Thanks."

"It was a pleasure."

I slipped them on and relaxed as the world returned to perfect clarity. Finally assured that the lines were no longer killing me, I turned my attentions to Koizumi, not hesitating to look him in the eye. "So, anything new happen?"

"Well, we did find out something interesting about the knife."

"Really?"

"Yes. It had an inscription on it." He took a photo out of his wallet and handed it to me. It was a closeup of the 'Nanatsu-yoru' kanji. "It reads--"

"Seven nights."

"Haha, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. But interpret it a different way. Do you see it now? It reads 'Nanaya.'"

The word rang true in my mind and I knew that Koizumi was right. I tilted the picture a little, trying to get a different perspective.

--There.

I could see it now. Read it like that, and it's Nanatsu-yoru, the seven nights. But read it like that...

"Koizumi, what does 'Nanaya' mean?"

He shrugged. "No one at the Agency is sure. We think that it's a family name, but we can't find any records of a house of 'Nanaya.'"

If it was a family name, why had _Tohno_ Makihisa been in possession of it? Why had he given it to me?

I looked outside. It was nighttime.

Tonight-- the moon looked so beautiful.

"Do you what Nagato's up to?"

"Miss Nagato?" He swiveled his head to glance at me. "I haven't seen her all day, to tell you the truth."

"What, no one's told her what happened to me yet?"

"Miss Suzumiya is very kind. She didn't want Miss Nagato to worry about you, so she instructed us not to inform her."

I reached for my cellphone before remembering that I was in a hospital gown."Koizumi, let me use your cellphone."

"Certainly." He handed over a sleek looking tablet thing that was a far cry from the blocky flip phone that I had been using for the past three years. I hurriedly dialed Nagato's number.

Pick up, pick up.

"Hello?"

"Nagato, it's Shiki."

"Shiki! I haven't seen you in three days."

I shot a look at Koizumi. Three days? We'd have a talk about this later. "Well, I'm a bit preoccupied Nagato. Sorry I couldn't visit."

"It's okay..."

"Hey, cheer up. We'll go get lunch or coffee or whatever you want after I'm discharged."

"D-discharged?" Oh crap. I had forgotten to tell her.

"Well, I'm in the hospital--"

"Where?"

"Hold on, Koizumi'll tell you."

I handed the phone to him. There was something sour about his smile as he spoke in a comparatively amiable tone to Nagato. "Hello Miss Nagato. Yes. No. Ah, at the corner of Sakura and Matou. Sure. Good day."

He handed the phone back to me. "Shiki, what happened?" Her voice was trembling.

"I'll tell you when you get here, okay? Maybe you should come tomorrow, it's a little dark--"

"No Shiki. I-I'm worried about you."

"Fine then. Take care."

"Bye."

"...Thanks."

The line went dead and I returned Koizumi's phone. Explaining all of this to Suzumiya and Koizumi had been simple because they weren't as fragile as Nagato was. Even after all these weeks, I knew she was still confused about things. At all the little inconsistencies that surrounded her, made her scratch her head and wonder 'when did that happen?'

For one of her only friends to get stabbed three times and land in a hospital...

Maybe Suzumiya had been right. I didn't want her to see me like this.

* * *

The door to my room slowly swung inwards and I caught a glimpse of lavender out of the corner of my eye. Nagato walked carefully over to my bedside, trying not to make a sound. 

She stood there for quite some time, not moving or talking.

Without warning, she sank to her knees and took a hold of my hand, crying softly into the bedsheets. She unsteadily lifted herself onto the bed and lightly grasped at my gown. My body was too numb to reach around and hold her. I felt so helpless.

"Sh-shiki..."

"Er..." What did one do in this situation when they couldn't really move? Actually, that was incorrect. I _could_ move to hug her, but then my IV drip would be forcibly ripped out of my vein. That was a sight neither of us wanted to see.

"Ma'am, visiting hours are over now--" The nurse from earlier had come in. She froze, startled by the sight in front of her. I shot her a pleading glance. With a sad smile, she nodded and turned out of the room.

Eventually, Nagato fell asleep.

I yawned. That was a good idea.

* * *

I woke up the next morning with something heavy weighing down on my chest. 

I opened my eyes. Nagato was lying there, curled up against me. Oh, that's right. She had fallen asleep there last night. I wouldn't have minded normally, but it was kind of painful right after open heart surgery.

"Nagato." I nudged her with the joint of my index finger. They must have lowered my dosage of the painkillers. I could move freely, and I was beginning to get a headache. Now, if I could only reach my glasses on the bedside table...

"Mmmm?" She yawned cutely and stretched, evoking images of cats in my mind. I couldn't help it. Pain be damned, I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled her hair. "Ah!"

"Morning, Nagato."

She blushed and removed herself from me. Flustered, she looked back and forth from me to the door. "G-good morning, Shiki. Do you want breakfast? I-I can go and--"

"Nah." I flexed an arm. I was a lot weaker than when I had fought Kimidori. The doctor had said it would be alright to exercise after my last examination, but I wasn't so sure after this. "Can you hand me my glasses?"

She moved over to the nightstand and plucked the glasses up, expertly perching them on my face. I breathed a sigh of relief. That constant, nagging pressure had finally relented. My mind clear, I sank back into the bed, trying to get some natural, mostly-drug-free rest.

Suzumiya burst into the room, a large smile on her face. Said smile quickly disappeared when she caught sight of Nagato. "What is _she_ doing here?"

I opened my mouth to answer but Nagato beat me to it. "I'm here to see Shiki."

"Hm." The other girl seemed to ponder this. She turned to me, confusion evident on her somewhat tired features. Exactly how early was it? "Wait, visitor hours just started!"

Oh boy.

"I stayed the night, Miss Suzumiya." I voicelessly begged them to stop with my eyes. They either didn't notice or just didn't care about the poor guy in the hospital bed.

"What?!" Suzumiya rounded upon the smaller girl and I felt my blood run cold. Her considerable athleticism would give her an edge if the two started to fight. "How--- why did they let you do that?"

Nagato blushed and answered softly. "I don't know."

"Kyon! Did she honestly stay up here the entire night?"

"She uh..."

"She what?!"

"Nothing, nothing." The less she knew, the better.

"Shiki--"

"Shiki, Shiki, Shiki." Suzumiya spat out my name with disgust. Was she going to start calling me that?

No. I could only be so lucky.

"Yuki, why don't you just call him Kyon? Everyone else does."

"His...his name is Shiki." She stared Suzumiya squarely in the eye. To see the meek girl stand up to someone who could strike her down with a thought was utterly astounding for me. "That's...that's the name he likes. That he wants to be called by. I...don't want him to be unhappy."

"You talk about him like he's your boyfriend or something." Suzumiya's little smirk faded as she seemed to realize something. "Unless...he is your boyfriend?"

"Suzumiya, it's nothing like that!"

"Quiet Kyon!" She turned back to Nagato. "Well? Is he?"

"I...don't know."

_Slap._

That was the last--

"AUUUUGH!" I tried to stop the fountain of blood coming from where the IV had ripped out in vain. It splattered all over my sheets, and I could see Suzumiya run out calling for a nurse while I bit back the searing pain.

_Ba-bump._

I was feeling lightheaded. I was losing so much blood.

_Ba-bump._

My heart was pounding twice as fast to compensate for the lack of blood, but that only served to hasten the flow of blood out of my wound. I was quickly losing consciousness.

A nurse came and hastily bandaged my wound, taking great care not to aggravate it further. I breathed heavily and hunched over in the bed, seeing the world through the curtain of my bangs. My left hand cradled my right wrist tenderly. I stared downwards.

Nagato laid there on the ground, a hand to her reddened cheek, little lines of blood running from where Suzumiya's nails had made contact.

"Why-- why did she--"

If she had still been in the room after that I had no doubt I would have made to attack again. When I saw Nagato hurt, something inside me had instinctively tried to hurt Suzumiya, consequences be damned.

_After all, turnabout is fair play..._

Neither Nagato or I had moved from our spots. Eventually, I got up since my IV was no longer in place. It was hard to walk straight, but I made it far enough to reach a hand out to help her up. She stared at it blankly for a few moments before gratitude flooded her face and she accepted.

I went crashing to the ground. I had forgotten how weak I was.

"So, that didn't go well."

I didn't get a response.

* * *

Suzumiya and Nagato hadn't come back after that. It didn't matter since I was being discharged. 

After the usual forms I was handed a bundle of street clothes that Sempai and Koizumi had apparently picked out for me as a present while I was sleeping. I went back to my room and slipped them on.

Perfect fit. Should I be worried about that?

I glanced at myself in the mirror. It didn't look bad at all.

In fact, I thought with some resentment, this is much nicer than what I usually wear.

I stepped out into the sun for the first time in a week. I took a deep breath.

Wow. Nothing like it.

I decided to head home as my first destination. Koizumi had told me as far as my relatives were concerned I was on a trip with the rest of the SOS Brigade. Apparently we had gone to China for a week. Koizumi later admitted to me that it had been a completely arbitrary location.

"But I don't know anything about China." I remembered that conversation we had two days ago after he explained why my family hadn't shown up to visit.

He handed me a small brochure and I had killed about an hour reading it. Hello in Chinese was nihao or something. That was something.

Well, I never was very attentive during trips.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door. I stepped in, slipping out of the overly expensive new shoes I had been given. My old pair was ruined by bloodstains, apparently. Personally, I thought that Koizumi had just gone completely overboard. If he wanted to give me a present, a knife like the one I had lost would have done. Something a bit more manly than new clothes.

A voice from behind me nearly made me jump. "Yo, Tohno!"

I turned around to find the ever-mischievous face of Arihiko staring down at me. A scowl of irritation played across his lips. "Hey, Arihiko."

"Man, I haven't seen you in a week." He put an arm around my shoulder. I noticed bemusedly that he was probably the only person I knew that could do things like that and still act macho. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Around, doing stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Went to China for a bit."

"China?" His eyes lit up. "Tohno...hey man...is it true?"

"True?" I gave him a confused look. "What's true?"

"C'mon, you know what they say about--"

I saw where this was going and I cut him off. "Never mind that."

"You're such a killjoy, Tohno. I was just joking." He puffed his chest out proudly. "You know that I'm a good old fashioned man of integrity!"

"Arihiko, you skip school and gamble half the week away."

"Well, school sucks." He sat down on my porch and glared out at no one. "That's that."

"Say, have you had any luck playing the pachinko parlors lately?"

"What?" A grin returned to his stoic features. His eyes were wild with excitement. "Oh like you wouldn't believe Tohno. I made a killing at this one place downtown last night. You should totally come with me man. You've always got the best luck."

I glanced down at my bound left arm. I still had enough movement left in it to keep it sort of natural, but it was a constant reminder of the feeling of bones being ground up by tempered metal. "I've got luck alright, but I wouldn't call it good."

"Oh, I know. Your anemia is a standing testament to that." He clapped a hand down on my shoulder and I winced. Thank god he hadn't gone a little farther left. "But you always score with the chicks and stuff so I figured you might be good at stuff like gambling."

His nonsensical logic astounded me yet again. I shook my head. "Do you want to come in Arihiko?"

"Nah." Suddenly, he gripped my right forearm. "C'mon man, let's go hit the town. You never do anything fun."

I was about to just tell him off again when I remembered what I had promised to Nagato a few days ago. I bent down to put my shoes back on. "Sorry Arihiko. I've got a date to make."

"Really?" He pondered my words for a while before making a gesture of understanding. His level of animation made me crack a small grin. "Oh, I know. It's with the lovely Miss Nagato, is it not?"

"Actually, yeah." I got up and started to walk. Let him think what he wants.

"So you and her really hit it off, huh? I guess that explains the clothes."

I was still wearing the overly dressy outfit that Sempai and Koizumi had gotten for me. I would have been happy just wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Nagato wouldn't have minded. We'd gone out dozens of times in casual clothing. "She isn't my girlfriend or anything. I'm just treating her to lunch."

"Whatever you say man, whatever you say." He winked at me. I felt perturbed. "Just don't be indecisive, Tohno."

"Indecisive?" What did he mean by that?

"Do you remember Sacchin?"

I didn't.

"Yumizuka Satsuki?"

"Ah, her." Her smiling face surfaced from my memories. She really was a sweet girl. The nickname was a perfect fit. "Everyone called Yumizuka Sacchin because she was so sweet."

"Except you, Tohno." He let out an exaggerated sigh and gestured frantically with his hands. "Anyway, you couldn't decide between her and that one girl, remember?"

"Um, Yumizuka was interested in me?"

"What? You mean you didn't know?" His entire body seemed to droop down in defeat. "I swear you are the absolute most dense person I've ever met Tohno. Yes, Sacchin was interested in you. No, she never told you. But it was obvious enough.

"Now, I don't even remember the other girl's name. But she told you flat out that she wanted to go out with you. And do you remember what you did?"

I groaned. Yes, I remembered that all too well. "I screamed." It was her fault for not listening to me when I told her not to take off my glasses. She had to have been in astoundingly poor health to have death that easily visible in her future. I let my mind wander in concern for her before Arihiko interrupted me with a bold exclamation.

"Like a goddamn pansy!" He shook his fist for emphasis. What was with this guy and his interest in my personal life? "It was then that I decided that you had some sort of magical gland that attracted beautiful women to you or something. There was no other explanation to how a sissy like you could catch the eye of beauties like that. It was ridiculous. You didn't even choose, Tohno! The entire year went by and you didn't give either of them the time of day."

"Yumizuka never even talked to me." I crossed my arms defiantly. How was I supposed to know if she never told me?

"Tohno, it's called body language. You even came close and she would light up like a red Christmas ornament!" This time his words made me think of Koizumi for some reason.

I shuddered.

"So I worried for a while that you were gay or something." I shot him a dirty look. "Hey, I ain't homophobic or anything and I know you like chicks. Well, I think."

I punched him in the shoulder with my good arm. He stared down pityingly where I had hit him. "Man, Tohno. You hit like a girl now."

"I haven't had the chance to get much exercise."

"I can tell." He sucked in air through his teeth. "You're pale as a ghost."

"I never could get a very good tan." I stopped walking. We had made it to Nagato's apartment complex. "Well, later Arihiko."

"Later, Tohno." I watched him walk away before he suddenly turned around and looked me gravely in the eye. "Tohno?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself man. You're looking terrible." And with that he departed.

Well, I was grateful for the clothes now. At the least they would distract Nagato from my current state of health. I ran a hand through my hair self-consciously. I hadn't shampooed in a week...

As the elevator ascended my thoughts drifted back to the knife that had been taking by Koizumi's Agency. I unconsciously clenched my fists until the knuckles were white. The absence of the knife's weight in my pocket was actually throwing me off balance. I felt as if a light breeze could topple me over. A ding.

I hobbled out of the elevator and sat against the wall. I needed a break.

"Shit..." I spoke softly aloud to myself. I put my hand onto my aching chest. Every beat was a veritable pang of extreme discomfort.

Pain.

It was just pain.

Enduring it was simple.

Rising to my feet was difficult, but I manged. I stumbled my way over to Nagato's apartment, giving a yelp as I tripped. Their new frame was enough to send my glasses flying over to the other wall from the impact.

"Ugh..."

Suddenly, a flash of gray overtook my vision. I looked up. Nagato had opened the door, walking towards me to lend me a helping hand. I smiled and reached up to grasp her palm.

--Only to meet nothing.

I stared at my empty hand and murmured under my breath. "What the hell?"

Seconds later, Nagato had opened the door again, walking towards me in a similar fashion. She reached out her hand again. I stared at it in a daze. Déjà vu.

"Shiki?"

"Huh?" I took her hand absentmindedly and got to my feet. I retrieved my glasses and took her hand again. "Sorry about that. Just wasn't paying attention."

"It's okay." She gave me a hesitant smile and leaned forward for a hug. Surprised but happy, I wrapped my good arm around her.

"What's this about?"

"You're back Shiki." She nuzzled my face affectionately with her cheek. I felt both our faces flush from the contact. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Alright then." I pulled away and grinned. "Where do you want to go first?"

* * *

"Nagato. I can't go on this ride. I had heart surgery like a week ago." 

How had she even convinced me to come to a carnival with her? What in the world was a carnival doing in the middle of a small prefecture like ours?

"Oh." She stared down disappointedly. I couldn't bear the expression.

"Are you hungry? We haven't eaten lunch yet."

"Yes."

"Where do you want to eat?" I gestured out towards the various stands littering the fairground. Hot dogs, pizza, chicken wings-- it was a very Western affair. I didn't really have a taste for any of it.

She pointed towards the pizza stand. Pizza it was then.

My poor, aching heart.

I paid for a few slices and returned to the table. The look of hunger on her face was so uncharacteristic of her that I felt the irresistible need to make fun of her. "If you eat too much you'll get fat."

"Wha-?" Her eyes widened and she blushed and pushed the food away. I laughed heartily and picked up a slice. "Here, here. I was just kidding."

I maneuvered the pizza to her mouth, my eyes softening as I watched her take a nibbling bite at the end of the slice. She ate slowly and demurely. No mess, no waste. Those were the idle thoughts that preoccupied my mind watching her eat so daintily.

"Shiki?" She looked up from her slice and motioned towards the food that I had left untouched on my plate.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Got a bit caught up in the moment." I feasted down hungrily on the fatty food. My doctor had recommended against such things, but he didn't explicitly say no. On dates like this, it was okay to live a little wasn't it?

"Um." Oh no. Had I disgusted her? A week of hospital food wasn't the best thing for my table manners.

"N-nagato, I'm sorry. I'll eat a little slower--"

"No, that's not it." She pointed over my shoulder.

The remainder of the SOS Brigade came strolling towards us, the leader placed firmly at the head of the group. Her arms were crossed in that classic female display of disease. She unceremoniously planted herself in a chair at our table. Sempai and Koizumi had a few more manners and remained standing. "Hello, Kyon."

"Hey, Koizumi." I nodded towards Sempai. "Sempai."

"Hi Kyon." Her voice was quiet. Something was troubling her.

"So what are you doing here Kyon, dressed so nicely?" Suzumiya had claimed the space directly proceeding greetings for her own. The conversation was hers now. "Why didn't you invite the rest of us?"

"I thought the SOS Brigade wasn't concerned with such things." I gave a cocky grin and leaned back a little in my seat. "After all, you didn't want to be mixed in with something so normal--"

--Oh GOD, my chest.

Suzumiya took me by the collar and was roughly shaking my form up and down, causing my unstable heart to go utterly crazy. My glasses went flying off my face, landing on the table somewhere near Nagato. My head began to pound in time with my heart.

Ba-dum.

The lines around Suzumiya were manipulating the world around us and I could easily see myself throwing up. She probably wouldn't like that.

"Sto-stop."

"Kyon, I am the Brigade Chief and I will decide what is and is not pertinent to our interests!" She shook me harder. I didn't think I could take much more. "The next time you decide to do something like this, I demand that you give me a call and--"

Her words stopped short. That unfamiliar flash of gray overtook my vision again and I saw Nagato walk up to Suzumiya, say something, then get slapped. She fell to the ground, the blood painting an arc through the open air. I cried out.

"Why did you hit her?!"

"What?" Suzumiya looked utterly confused and I noticed Nagato rise out of her seat in the corner of my eye. I grasped Suzumiya's wrists firmly and pushed off of her, jumping back to avoid further entanglement. I slouched over and inhaled sharply, trying to catch my breath and stem the pain. My glasses were pushed into my hand by someone. I looked up to find Koizumi smiling at me.

"Those were a present, you know. Take care of them."

"Ha..."

A single breath escaped me, trying by itself to form into a laugh. Impossible, when the rest of my voice didn't follow. I fell to my knees, gray flashes and black lines punctuating scenes I had never seen before.

Suzumiya standing over a lifeless world.

Someone surrounded by dozens of people, all with a gun trained on him.

A white-haired man, his bare hands tearing the hearts out of both men and women.

A solitary figure holding a knife, his eyes completely obscured by a strip of white cloth.

I laid there panting in the dirt. Several other carnival goers had gathered around me to see what had happened. A middle aged man was being pestered by his daughter to call an ambulance. I caught her eye and shook my head. My smile seemed to pacify her and she backed off. I rose to my feet, consciously tracking my balance.

"What...what in the world."

My lips formed delirious words that even I couldn't understand. Formless, useless babble. A string of unrelated thoughts that held neither logic or context.

A stream of consciousness, unbound by rhyme or reason.

True thoughts, bubbling forth from the personality of the mind.

Player is prayer, yes, dance romanesque--

"Ugh..." I shambled forward and collapsed back into my seat. Flashes of gray. Memories that I didn't experience.

--Or were they memories?

A whiff of something pleasantly aromatic.

Ah.

Nagato's hair.

...Oh crap, Suzumiya. Please don't--

"Get off of him!" The comforting presence was suddenly jerked away and I saw myself in the pools of Suzumiya's brown eyes. The clarity was astounding. "Kyon, what the hell happened to you?"

"Ah..." I put my glasses back on and frowned. The frame was a little off, presumably because of all the abuse. Normalcy took root in my mind again and I felt as if I could maybe play this entire incident off. "Well, I did just have heart surgery. I'm honestly not too surprised."

"What were you thinking, coming out here to play with Yuki when you should have been at home resting?!" She grabbed my collar, probably not even listening to her own words about rest. Incidents like these were far more jarring than anything Nagato could possibly come up with. "March your ass back home right now!"

"I was going to do that anyway." I straightened my jacket. She probably wasn't going to let me go without a fight. Guess I'd save her the trouble. "Any of you want to come with me?"

Everyone accepted pretty quickly. It had slipped my mind that none of them had ever come to visit before, save Nagato. She was a special case, after all. Suzumiya put up a bit of resistance though.

"I-I don't have time to play games with--"

"No games. Well, maybe some video games. I figure you aren't the Twister type."

And then she had shut up and we made the long walk back to my house. Coming into my small bedroom made me realize just how many people there were.

Nagato, Suzumiya, Koizumi, Sempai, and me. Five people. There wasn't all that much space.

"Er...let's just go down to the living room."

So we did, and here we were taking turns playing video games with Suzumiya, who was unsurprisingly unbeatable. "Ha!"

The forty-seven hit combo made my head spin. Seriously, how?

It was Nagato's turn. I saw her position her thumbs over the buttons with smooth precision. Had she done this before?

The announcer's voiced cried out and the two characters on the screen burst into action. Special attacks flew through the air and I wasn't really sure who was winning.

Suzumiya's character was largely melee orientated, preferring to get up close and personal with a small dagger. There was a small smirk set on his face as his arms exploded into a flurry of stabs and slashes. Despite being the perfect match for her personality, I felt an uncomfortable affinity with him.

Nagato's character was somewhat different, though the same in a lot of respects. The physical appearance was nearly identical to the character Suzumiya had chosen, though I noticed that the color palette used on him was a lot less severe. So perhaps the other one was the evil twin?

--Never mind.

Either way, the character also fought with a dagger though he had a longer reach. His animations were noticeably slower and less flashy, though I could see that Nagato wasn't having a problem working around that. Suzumiya was trying to keep a constant pressure on her, but it didn't work with her character. That fantastic speed was made for stinging then falling back.

She had neglected to do that, and was losing.

Nagato's special bar had filled up all the way. She did a dash backwards then time slowed down. Afterimages trailed behind her character as he crossed the air, his knife poised to kill.

Contact. Lines filled the screen and I reached up to make sure my glasses were still on.

Crash. Glass shattered and Suzumiya's character fell to the ground, dead.

"What?" She chucked her controller furiously down. Luckily, we were sitting on a sofa. "How did I lose?"

"Miss Suzumiya, you--"

"Save it. I don't want to hear it Yuki." She began walking out. Common courtesy told me to call after her.

"Suzumiya, are you leaving?"

"Yeah." She turned her nose up. "This was a total waste of my time."

The door closed. I turned towards everyone else.

"So...anyone want to order takeout?"

* * *

"Kyon, I thought we had gone over this." 

Nagato had gone to the bathroom and the pair had taken the opportunity to confront me with something that I didn't even really want to acknowledge. "Eh, what's the harm in--"

"The harm is possible destruction of the known universe." His eyes turned cold, creating a disturbing inconsistency with his smile. That expression wasn't remotely natural. "Why do you continue to do these things, Kyon? Miss Nagato is a Humanoid Interface. If you happen to be romantically interested in her, she can never reciprocate."

"T-that's not it!" I bit my tongue. Had to keep my voice down. Nagato was just in the other room. "She just looked so lonely. I think she really needed a friend, Koizumi."

"We're her friends, Kyon." Sempai made a perfectly genuine statement that was at the same time utterly incorrect.

"Sorry Sempai. But she needed someone who could spend time with her outside the club." I sighed. "Look...I know you think she's not human. But I know her. I've seen her happy, hurt, sad---"

"No, Kyon. You see what the Data Integration Thought Entity wishes for you to see." A chortle escaped his mouth. Even his control had to slip once in a while. "I'm surprised we waited until she left to discuss this. Undoubtedly she is recording this even now."

"...Maybe." I knew it was impossible. Maybe the Data Entities were keeping tabs on me, but--

Hold on, what?

My chest constricted. I hadn't even thought about that until now. Such a being had the power to easily spy on my friends and family. A being of pure data, constantly tracking us, analyzing and storing our movements in memory until the time it decided that it had a perfect chance of victory. An omnipresent, omnipotent foe with no limits to its power. Endless numbers, to the extent that casualties weren't even a consideration.

A being that happened to be inhuman.

"Kyon?"

"Huh?" I looked up. They were looking at me strangely. "Nothing, keep going."

Nagato came in, sitting down beside me. She reached a hand out to grab at the popcorn we had made. "I'm back Shiki."

She didn't understand the glares that Sempai and Koizumi had sent at me.

* * *

"How fantastic." 

Yet another stream of blood. Probably the thirtieth time that night.

"Yes, this is utterly perfect."

Four more fell to the blade known as 'Nanatsu-yoru.' I span on my heel to catch a fleeing child in the stomach. She screamed in pain before falling unconscious, bleeding to death. I spared her some mercy with an easy jab of my blade.

I waded through the sea of bodies, watching amusedly as several police officers trained their guns on me. A hail of bullets.

All the ones that hadn't missed fell uselessly to the ground, their momentum having been redirected by the flat of my blade. I flicked my knife at the nearest officer, noting the squad's surprised look at the metal bar that had suddenly appeared in his chest.

I was above him then, retrieving the Nanatsu-yoru while tearing his head off for good measure. A single flip landed me lightly onto the balls of my feet, ready to react to anything the officers could send at me.

They trembled at the sight of their dead comrade's head rolling around on the floor and I couldn't help but ham it up a little. I placed a hand in my pocket, practically daring them to try and shoot me.

They hesitated for a long time before opening fire. That was fine.

There. My eyes could easily follow all the shots. I ducked and weaved through the deadly maelstrom to get in range for my attack. Sliding onto my knees put me in the perfect position to cut their hands off.

So, I did.

Along with their hands went their firearms, the only real defense they had against me. One of the ones I hadn't gotten pulled out a baton. Was it his intention to fight me like that?

I smiled. What a novel idea.

A clumsy attempt to step into my guard. Whoever this was obviously hadn't trained enough at the police academy. It was a sickening display and I only had to move a few times in order to dodge the blows.

What foolishness, what--

A bullet tore through the back of my skull and out my forehead, killing me nigh instantaneously.

My last thoughts were pleasant ones.

Your turn.

A/N- To the reviewer who told me that Nanaya Shiki isn't a separate personality: thank you, but I knew that. I understand that he's not an alternate personality, and that he doesn't act like a murderous Dante, but I'm loosely basing him on some of the manga too, where Shiki clearly goes out of control during his Nanaya moments. I can't really claim that he becomes an _entirely different person_, per se, but if the manic grin and wild eyes are anything to go by then he's definitely not acting normal. Besides, anyone who played the game can probably spot a single instance of Nanaya as he should be in this chapter.


End file.
